RC school board approves deficit budget, announces staff reductions

Budget projections paint a gloomy picture for the Rogers City Area Schools. The annual budget hearing was conducted Monday evening with presentations being made by outgoing superintendent Ed Schultz and business manager Don Schaedig. Schaedig provided a chart that showed a line that represented student enrollment and how it has steadily gone down over the last eight years. The student population was 857 in the 1997-98 school year and is projected to be 624 for 2005-06. The long-term predictions, Schaedig said, are for student enrollment to slip to 500 and for class sizes to increase to a ratio of 26 students per teacher. The teacher/student average for 2004-05 was 17:1. The highest class was 24:1 in the eighth grade, while the lowest was 12:1 in the Young Fives class. Next year the average is expected to be 18:1.

?IF YOU look at some other districts around us, it?s not too bad for class sizes,? said Schaedig. ?Looking down the road I can visualize, instead of 18: or 20:1, we might be looking at 25: to 26:1, unless something dramatically changes at the state level.? Monday?s hearing was conducted prior to the board adopting a deficit budget of $164,254 for the next school year. Projected revenues for 2005-06 are $4,967,540, while expenditures are $5,131,794. Fund equity monies will make up the shortfall. State law requires all public school districts in Michigan adopt a balanced budget for the upcoming school year by June 30. Administration and members of the planning and finance committee worked almost six months examining every aspect of the K-12 operations, looking for ways to save money, cut expenses without hurting programs for kids, and to raise additional revenue. It still couldn?t prevent the reduction in some positions. .

?AT THIS point we are not ready to name names, but we are ready to name positions,? said Schultz. Positions to be reduced or eliminated include one half-time custodial position, two teacher aide positions and two noon duty positions. ?Unfortunately there will have to be some additional support staff layoffs, but there is a union bumping process that we need to go through,? said Schultz. Schaedig said the majority of the positions being reduced are part of the cost-saving measu

re to close the second floor of the Grambau Center and the relocating the fifth and sixth grade classes to the elementary school and RCHS. The superintendent said no action needed to be taken, but the public announcement of the reductions needed to be made. Schultz said in his 36 years of working in education, the last four years has been the most difficult, mainly because of the finances. ?Much uncertainty yet remains in projected state aid and enrollment figures. Don has hopes that the general fund equity will remain above the policy percentage of 15 percent when the 2004-05 books are closed on June 30, 2005.? .

ONLY AFTER the summer financial audits in late July/early August will it be known for sure, Schultz said. ?This board should congratulate itself for at least keeping the general fund equity to a point where it is reasonable,? said Schultz. ?When I came here four years ago we were at a fund equity of 24 percent. In 2003-04 it was at 21 percent. The projected figure for this year is about 18 percent.? At the end of the 2005-06 budget the fund equity could drop to 15 percent, or just under $800,000. The following school year, Schultz said ?the bottom drops out? with projected fund equity for the 2006-07 school year of $419,831, or only eight percent. In working on the 2005-06 budget, Schultz said he wished there had been more time, but the preliminary budget is based on the best information available. He warned that the budget process isn?t going to be any easier next year. ?More work of the same nature that we?ve done all year, has to be done again this coming year,? said Schultz. ?It?s not going to be easy.? A resolution to set the 2005-06 millage rate at 18 mills for non-homestead property and a rate of 1.73 mills for the building & site shrinking fund, which was renewed by voters last month, also was adopted.