Jay Schools face tough choices

Tough choices lie ahead.
Jay Schools finished 2013 with about $1 million less in its general fund than it had at the start of the year, in large part because of higher than expected health insurance claims.
And because of changes in state funding for public education, business manager Brad DeRome told Jay School Board Tuesday, it’s going to be a challenge to finish 2014 on a break-even basis.
School board members have urged maintaining a year-end general fund balance of $3 million to handle any delays in receiving state support, but that figure dropped to about $2 million last year.
In addition to insurance claims, drops in student enrollment, changes in the funding of full-day kindergarten and a decline in state support for vocational education have squeezed the general fund.
“We want to look at things we can reduce or change or cut back on,” superintendent Tim Long told the board at the first of what could prove to be a series of work sessions on school finances. “We’re not going to get hit over the head with new money.”
Jay Schools has seen its enrollment drop from 3,829 in 1999 to 3,337 in 2013. Each student represents about $6,000 in state support.
Long noted that in the past, school corporations had about a year to adjust to enrollment declines. Now the state counts enrollment twice a year and the effect on funding is retroactive.
He also noted that the end of the business personal property tax, which has been proposed by Gov. Mike Pence and is now under consideration by the Indiana General Assembly, could have a $900,000 a year impact on Jay Schools.
Board members and representatives of Jay Classroom Teachers Association are hopeful that major changes in employee health insurance — shifting many employees to high deductible plans — will lead to significant cost savings. But both agree that it’s too soon to tell what those savings will amount to.
“There are corporations that have cut art, music and physical education. There are corporations that have cut buildings,” said Long.
Similar cuts may be required by Jay Schools.
The administration and JCTA put more than a dozen possible cost-cutting steps on the table Tuesday.
They include reductions in fine arts and athletics at the elementary level, the closing of Pennville Elementary School, cutting elementary school librarians, the return to blended classes at some schools and the possibility of consolidating the two middle schools.
No action was taken on any of those ideas, but Long urged board members and teachers to rank each of them as “immediate” steps, steps that could be taken in the near future or steps that should be considered a last resort.
Long noted that many of the steps would require negotiation or discussion with the teachers’ union.
The administration’s list:
•Increase rates on insurance premiums.
•Stop the $1 insurance benefit for administrators as contracts run out.
•Join the state health plan or Anthem’s fully-funded plan.
•Do not hire non-certified employees for more than 28-hour weeks.
•Stop the payment of the non-certified retirees health care incentive.
•Modify current insurance benefits to align more closely with the state plan.
•Reduce the number of instructional assistants.
•Reduce the number of hours or contract months for support staff.
•Reduce the number of custodians.
•Reduce the number of school nurses.
•Reduce the number of summer workers.
•Reduce the number of administrators.
•Reduce the use of substitute teachers.
•Eliminate block scheduling at Jay County High School.
•Eliminate the teaming component at the middle schools to reduce the number of teaching positions.
•Reduce travel expenditures.
•Reduce the number of librarians at the elementary level.
•Reduce the amount of time for fine arts and physical education at the elementary level.
•Reduce the number of ancillary positions in the Title 1 Reading Recovery program.
•Return to blended classes, in which two grade levels would be combined.
•Reduce the number of elementary and secondary teaching positions.
•Sell properties that are not essential.
•Reduce the number of outside consultants.
•Reduce technology and telephone costs.
•Eliminate the Read 180 program at elementary and middle schools to cut staff.
•Reduce supply and maintenance costs.
•Move expenses to other funds and reduce pressure on the capital projects fund.
•Close or reconfigure elementary buildings or grade levels.
•Consider movement of middle schools to a single building.
•Consider the current transfer policy of students and redistricting, which has led to an imbalance in class sizes.
•Relocate the central office to the high school.
•Reduce maintenance staff.
The list representatives of the teachers’ union presented to the board:
•Hire certified staff according to the salary scale and not at the discretion of the superintendent.
•Look seriously at health insurance, possibly cutting some support staff hours.
•Eliminate the $1 health insurance for administrators now.
•Eliminate the positions of mentor teacher and RTI facilitators.
•Combine the RISE coordinator and testing and assessment administrative positions.
•Eliminate intramural athletic programs at the elementary level.
•Eliminate the elementary basketball program.
•Eliminate unnecessary field trips that are not educational and require that the field trips be paid for by students or their organizations.
•Change the gifted and talented program back to a “pull-out” system.
•Close some schools or consolidate with others. The JCTA cites Pennville as an example, saying, “We can’t afford to pay for a school that only has 100 or less kids.”
•Any “facilities” project in excess of $5,000 should go through a bid process and require board approval.
While those ideas are a starting point, DeRome said he has a list of his own of steps he can take immediately to try to prevent any further red ink in the general fund this year.
DeRome said he hopes to achieve savings of about $166,000 through the retirements of eight teachers in 2014 and another $50,000 in administrative and support staff retirements. He’s also planning to reduce summer employment and defer spending on maintenance and vehicles.
He also plans to ease pressure on the general fund by moving some expenditures — utilities, supplies, repairs, maintenance, equipmen and computer support — to the capital projects fund instead. He would also shift about $50,000 in spending for the preschool program to the Title 1 account.
“We would like to finish at the break-even mark,” said DeRome. “It’s really hard on a moving target. It’s hard to predict and forecast.”
Another work session on finances is set for Monday, March 10. The board will hold its regular meeting at 5 p.m. that day and begin its work session at 6 p.m.
“I think we’ve got two good lists to get started on,” said Long. “We just want to make sure we’ve got a handle moving forward.”[[In-content Ad]]