Shelton School District: Budget Input Sessions For Parents, Staff, And Community

Basic Facts Affecting The Budget For The Shelton School District Number of students: 4,122 (March, 2010) Enrollment CategoryEnrollment (FTE) Grades K-41,262 Grades Grades Grades 9-12 Excl. Voc.1, Vocational Running Start56.85 Total4,025.46

Basic Facts Affecting The Budget for the Shelton School District (cont) Number of schools: 7 State funding will decrease substantially for Enrollment in our district is increasing slightly over time, which has a small positive budget impact We anticipate annual increases in utilities, fuel, insurance, and other costs

More Budget Basics For the school year, the total budget for the Shelton School District was $43,229,613. These funds came from the following sources: State: $28,129,009 Federal: $5,950,150 Local taxes (levy): $5,569,448 Other districts: $2,818,257 Other income: $762,749 All of these funding sources have restrictions, but some funding sources are more flexible than others.

More Budget Basics (cont) While this is general funding – there are strings attached: –Minimum number of teachers by grade level –Minimum teacher salary and salary increases –Minimum health care benefits and pension rates –Minimum health care retiree subsidy

Reductions to Basic Education Budget in Certificated Staff$911,100 Classified Staff$522,414 Staff Development $333,250 (I-728 and administrators) Athletics/Activities$98,724 NERCs (non employee related costs)$89,273 (schools, central office, tech, maintenance) Furlough Day $15,350 (administrators and non-represented) TOTAL$1,970,111

Anticipated Budget Change for We anticipate losing between $500,000 and $1 million in state funds, depending on the House and Senate budget reconciliation process.

Responding to the Challenge Superintendent is holding informational meetings with staff and collecting suggestions for reductions/ efficiencies. Board developed guiding principles to keep in mind for any budget reductions. Board identified required and optional services and programs. Superintendent is preparing considerations for reductions. Board and Superintendent gathering input from community, staff, parents. Board will determine final priorities for reductions. Board will adopt final budget when final state, federal, and local funding is known.

Guiding Principles Developed by the Board of Directors Align resources to meet board goals for improving the graduation rate and student achievement in reading and math Continue required school and district improvement initiatives including PLCs and RTI, as examples Preserve the classroom as much as possible Continue commitment to health and safety Honor legal/contractual obligations –Try to find modifications when possible Protect reserves (funds for emergencies) Find efficiencies Work with other agencies as service partners

What are required programs? Definition: Programs mandated by state or federal laws and regulations Examples: –Core curriculum areas: Reading/ Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health/Fitness, Arts –Courses required for graduation (including CTE programs) –1000 hours of instruction required annually in grades 1-12 –Special Education services –Certain staff development that is required because of NCLB legislation

What are optional programs? Definition: Programs offered to enhance the educational and extracurricular experiences for Shelton students, but that are not mandated Examples: Extracurricular activities, some elective courses, building maintenance beyond safety/legal requirements, some staff training, to and from school transportation Just because something is optional does not mean it should be eliminated; when our community invested in our school buildings, they probably expected us to maintain the buildings in reasonable repair.

What Other Districts Are Doing Cutting programs (e.g., elective courses) Reducing staff costs (e.g. increase class size, cut positions, reduce hours) Adding additional students (e.g., Internet academies) Increasing fees (athletics, other extracurricular, facility rental) Reducing or eliminating: classes with small enrollment, athletics, performing arts, other optional programs

What Will Shelton Do? The Board will weigh many factors in determining how Shelton will adjust the budget. Community and staff input will be very useful to the Board in making their decisions.

Now…. We Need Your Input!