District battles tight budget

The Whitefish School District is

looking at ways to provide services on a tight budget.

District clerk Danelle Reisch gave the

school board a budget update at its June 14 meeting. She reported

that funding levels remain even for the high school level and the

elementary general fund budget is .5 percent larger.

The budget predictions include staff

reductions at both the elementary and high school levels. The

district expects a cost savings of about $166,000 because of staff

reductions.

At the elementary level, reductions

include a sixth-grade teacher, paraeducators and library aides at

both Muldown and Whitefish Middle School. The sixth-grade position

is being eliminated because of low enrollment.

Conversely, the district expects to add

a kindergarten teacher to the staff at Muldown because of large

enrollment predictions.

Superintendent Jerry House said the

kindergarten could grow between 15 to 25 students before next

year.

“We can’t absorb that with the current

staff,” he said. “We have to hire.”

The enrollment increase could be good

news in the future because it will likely result in increased

funding, he noted. The district receives its funding from the state

based, in part, on enrollment numbers.

Trustee David Fern asked if anybody

would replace the paraeducator positions or if teachers will add

more responsibilities to their duties.

House said the district is looking at

ways other paraeducators might spend time working in the

library.

“It’s going to fall back on the

teachers to escort kids to the library,” he added.

The district plans to eliminate the

drama coach position at the middle school. The cut will save the

district about $2,000 for the stipend paid to the coach.

“There was not a lot of interest from

the students last year,” Reisch said of the drama program. “There

are other avenues available in the community for this kind of

activities.”

Still, the cut didn’t seem very

favorable with some board members.

“It’s a feeder program — it bothers

me,” Ruth Harrison said. “As long as they have opportunities.”

At the high school, staff reductions

include the elimination of several teacher positions.

The district does plan to restore

previously reduced spending on textbooks and supply budgets. The

district expects to increase spending for both by about $8,000.

“At the high school for the last four

to five years, we haven’t had enough money in those budgets,”

Reisch said.

The district has had to make up for a

funding decrease for special education.

“We have a loss of stimulus funds

there,” Reisch said. “Because of the stimulus (in the past) we’ve

put off the kind of budget cuts that we’re seeing now.”

Federal Title II funding for the

district was reduced by about $30,000 for 2011-2012. The district

has to shift money to special education to make up for the decrease

in funds that are used primarily for professional development.

The district is still waiting to see if

federal funding for Title I is cut, as well. Title I provides

supplemental funding to schools in economically challenged areas to

ensure equal access to education. The district could see up to a 20

percent reduction in funding from Title I.

The budget isn’t all bad news. A few

items still to be added into the final budget could help improve

numbers.

Reisch said expected changes in

workers’ compensation rates should result in savings for the

district.

House also noted that lighting

retrofits for the high school and middle school gyms are resulting

in “significant savings” for the district’s utility budget.

The school board will look at the

budget again at its July meeting.