Kyrene School District discusses ways to save money
Next
school year could bring a longer walk to bus stops, a change in the
middle-school model and fewer academic coaches at the Kyrene School
District.
District
administration and board members discussed possible ways to balance
next year's $5.3 million projected budget deficit at its study session.
The
discussion Tuesday comes about a month before board members are
expected to vote on the fate of free all-day kindergarten. The board has
discussed a tuition-based model for full-day classes and providing only
half-day kindergarten for free.
Initial
budget recommendations from Kyrene administration are expected to save
between $3.5 million and $6.65 million. As much as $2.8 million of
savings would come from cutting positions.
"These are positions that are tied to a lot of these items," interim Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Calles said.
Personnel-based
cuts include changes to custodial services, bus services, math and
literacy coaches, the district office and the middle-school model.
Changes
to the district's custodial services could save $200,000 to $300,000,
Calles said. Currently four middle schools have in-house custodians, and
eliminating those positions would save enough money to hit the low end
of that target.
To
make bus routes more efficient and save $100,000 to $150,000, Calles
said, the number of students the district schedules to ride each bus
could be raised. Now, 60 elementary students or 64 middle-school
students are assigned to each bus. "We'll get 30 or 50 that actually
show up," Calles said.
If
more students are assigned to each bus, he said, the hope is buses will
be more full and routes can be consolidated. That would most likely
lead to fewer stops as well, he said, and up to three more blocks of
walking for kindergarten through fifth-grade students and up to four
more blocks for middle-school students.
Governing
board member Beth Brizel said she worried about making young students
walk that far, especially during the summer months "To have these little
young kids doing extra walking ... seems a little bit excessive to me,"
she said.
Students
who live up to a mile away from a school aren't provided any
transportation, Calles said. "We're not going to have anybody walking
further to a bus stop than what someone else is being required to walk
to school," he said.
Most students would only see a one-block increase, though, Calles said, and only about 95 students would be affected.
A
team of administrators and middle-school teachers are discussing the
best ways to save money and improve the way middle school is run.
Assistant Superintendent Gina Taylor said.
Currently
teachers teach four 68-minute classes, Taylor said. Changing to
something like five 60-minute classes could offer more flexibility for
classes and cut down the number of teachers at each middle school, she
said.
In
2005, Kyrene switched to the middle-school model. Brizel said the
increase was in part to help raise AIMS scores. "Why now would we think
that we need less time?" she said. "Why would we be thinking of
decreasing minutes in any of the core subjects?"
Other personnel changes include cutting the math- and literacy-coach program by about half and reducing district office staff.
At
a board meeting last month, Calles reviewed last year's projected
savings and how much money was actually saved. The district fell about
$786,000 short of its goal.
Eventually the discussion came back to funding all-day kindergarten, which the board is expected to vote on next month.
Several community members and Kyrene parents spoke in favor of funding the program and not implementing a tuition system.
Parent
Darcy Boggs said all-day kindergarten is imperative for students who
face the much more rigorous state standards being implemented in the
next few years.
"Cutting funding for all day kindergarten will further burden already overwhelmed teachers," Boggs said.
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