Coos Bay Public Schools s2

COOS BAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS COOS BAY, OREGON MAY 22, 2002

BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING

BUDGET MESSAGE

The Budget Committee of Coos Bay Public Schools met at 6:30 p.m. on May 22, 2002 in the Board Room of the South Coast Education Service District Office at 1350 Teakwood, Coos Bay, Oregon, to hear Superintendent Parker’s 2002-03 Budget Message and to begin budget deliberations. The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Budget Vice-Chair/Secretary Caddy McKeown, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Present: Scott Bassett Susan Nauman Tom Bennett Sue Nowlin Don Blom Charlie Sharps Chris Flammang Debi Springsteen Wally Hazen Kelly Thompson-Poore Alan Henrickson Sue Walberg Caddy McKeown

Absent: Rob Wall

Others present included: Superintendent Giles Parker, Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Lyon, Rod Danielson, Mary Bjornerud, Vicki Jenkins, Tim Enright, Gina Sutherland, Ralph Mohr, Coni Stroud, Kathe Stufflebean, Jim Howard, Judy Parker, Kathy Verger Muscus.

OPENING

Current year Budget Committee Vice-Chair/Secretary Caddy McKeown welcomed everyone to the first Budget Committee meeting for the 2002-03 school year. She announced that Chris Flammang and Debi Springsteen had accepted re-appointments to the Budget Committee and thanked all members for their service to the school district. The Budget Committee members introduced themselves to the audience.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Tom Bennett nominated Caddy McKeown as Budget Committee Chairman for the 2002-03 budget year. Charlie Sharps seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 2

Wally Hazen nominated Scott Bassett as Budget Committee Vice-Chair/Secretary for the 2002-03 budget year. Sue Nowlin seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

BUDGET MESSAGE

Superintendent Parker delivered his budget message as prescribed by Oregon Budget Law and in accordance with accepted accounting practices. Due to the critical financial issues in his message, it is attached in full and made a part of these Minutes. This will be Dr. Parker’s last budget message as he is retiring June 30. Chairman Caddy McKeown expressed gratitude for his dedication to public education.

Dr. Parker said the Budget Message was written with the assumption Ballot Measure 13 would pass. The May 21 election saw the failure of that measure. Unless the legislature finds a way to backfill funds from another source, the district will be forced to cut another approximately $1.5 million, possibly by furloughing staff and/or reducing the school year. Since any action taken by the legislature would not be known prior to the June 30 deadline for adopting a budget, Superintendent Parker recommended the Budget Committee approve this or an amended budget. After the legislature has acted, the committee can be called back together or the Board can work alone to make additional cuts if necessary.

BUDGET DELIBERATIONS

After hearing the Budget Message, Chairman McKeown welcomed all the budget committee members, saying it is a “seasoned” group which brings confidence they can work through the process and come up with the best possible educational programs for the least amount of money. She invited questions and comments from the committee.

Susan Nauman asked why Sunset Middle School has a certified librarian while all other schools except Marshfield have classified librarians. Rod Danielson explained that the middle schools and high school were given a directive to come up with a set amount of cuts. One middle school principal chose to eliminate a certified librarian and use a classified employee, while the other chose to keep the certified librarian. This certified librarian will be at Sunset next year. Susan’s understanding from several years ago was that all schools were going to classified librarians and asked if that wouldn’t save money. Rod Danielson said there was no directive from administration to use only classified librarians. Moving the certified librarian into a teaching position and using a classified employee to staff the library could save about $20,000. Susan suggested those savings could be directed towards the swim program which has been reduced significantly from the current year. Susan emphasized the importance of children learn to swim, especially since we live so close to the ocean. For some kids, this is the only swimming instruction they get. She asked how much the program costs. Rod stated BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 3 the District has paid for the swimming instructor, pool rental, and busing for those not close enough to walk. Some funds are collected from students, and some schools had enough volunteers additional help did not need to be hired. However, Mingus Pool management has had to hire some help to maintain the appropriate ratio.

Tom Bennett asked Susan if she was proposing they put the swimming program back in the budget. She said yes and suggested it would be a reduced amount with the 5 th graders out of the elementary schools and possibly not including kindergartners. In addition, there will be two less schools to transport from, reducing the transportation cost.

Charlie Sharps agreed the swimming program should be protected. However, he does not want to accomplish it by moving the certified librarian back into teaching. Caddy McKeown said she felt it was dangerous to pick positions to exchange for programs. She concurred with the public safety issue of kids learning to swim and suggested that, if teachers and families want to keep the swimming program, some fund raising outside the district could be considered in order to raise money for transportation and the instructor. The City is providing funding to keep the pool open during the summer.

Susan Nauman said their family as well as many others would be willing to pay a higher per-student fee to keep the program operating. Caddy asked who should be responsible to fund the program?

Long-time teacher Ralph Mohr provided a history of pool use, saying he went before the school board in 1969 and asked to use Mingus Park Pool for the swimming program. Prior to that, Marshfield swimmers used the North Bend pool. Once Mingus Park Pool was used, some after school elementary programs started. Since then, a full elementary program has been provided, and there has been no drowning in the district. Ralph commented that the community voted to provide a new building and that it has been a balance between the city and school district to keep the pool open. Page 23 of the budget document shows the funding by school this year and the proposed rental for 111 days next year. Ralph asked for details. Rod said the 111 days are from the start of high school practice through the state meet towards the end of February. Ralph suggested they find the money to fund the swimming program, possibly by reducing out- of-district travel.

Kathy Verger Muscus, a Mingus Pool Park board member, added her belief that it is crucial to provide these survival skills. She said parents are very passionate about their children learning to swim, and they will cooperate to make it happen. She believes that, with the cooperation of the City, they can run a K-4 program from October through February with help from the District, a $5 student fee, and busing being reimbursed at 70%. She said Kathe Stufflebean has a special gift of working with our children. Kathy felt that, if the budget committee couldn’t come up with $62,000 to run the complete BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 4 program, they could come up with a program that would work for the community for $10,000. It would require substantial volunteer help, but it could be done.

Tom Bennett suggested one option for the committee was to make a budgetary adjustment that would commit a sum of money to the pool with the intent to make the program work. They can provide Rod some guidance as to where the budget should be adjusted.

Tom Bennett asked if the textbook adoption could be delayed. Jeremy Lyon said it was certainly needed at the high school. It was postponed last time. Adoption of math textbooks is just around the corner. If we postpone this year, it doubles up next time. Susan Nauman mentioned the two different math books used at the elementary level. Dr. Lyon said one of the tasks for new curriculum director is figuring out how we can integrate what we have.

Charlie Sharps asked for some direction; i.e., how much nit-picking should be budget committee do before recommending a budget. Budget Committee Chair Caddy McKeown said the committee does need to look at the budget document in depth but commented on the danger of nickel-and-diming it to death. The administrators have spent many, many hours preparing the document. She suggested that, if there was something the budget committee felt very strongly about, they should ask questions, student the budget in depth during the next week, and come to the next meeting ready to make some decisions. Superintendent Parker asked the Budget Committee to e-mail questions before next Wednesday’s meeting.

Susan Nauman presented two more questions. Last year, $800 for band uniform cleaning was taken out, but the budget reflects that $400 was put back in (Object Code 322, page 22). None is being allocated for 2002-03. Second, she asked if it really costs $1,800 for garbage service at a school that’s closed (Object Code 328, page 25). Rod confirmed it does. Milner Crest is being used by the community, and the district is receiving some rent. Part of the agreement for its use was that the district would provide garbage service to avoid having garbage left behind. Nothing was put in the budget for garbage service last year. This year, $1,800 has been added. Susan asked if the rental income covers our expenditures, and Rod said it does.

Sue Walberg asked about middle school sports programs. Dr. Lyon said Sunset will operate A&B teams for 7th and 8th grades. Currently there are six squads and six coaches (A&B teams for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders). There will be two 7th grade and two 8th grade football teams – the second ones being those which would have been at Millicoma had the district not restructured. This will maintain the schedule in league play. This meant having four football coaches up to four, so they ended up cutting 12 instead of 15 coaches. The Resource Advisory Committee’s effort was to maintain the level of participation. BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 5

Tom Bennett asked what was happening with the Englewood facility. Rod said the warehouse would be used one more year, and the Dance Spectrum uses the gym facility. Jeremy Lyon commented that the district will be “heavy with surplus property,” having two more closed schools plus Englewood. User groups are not carrying the costs associated with upkeep in the buildings. It is the district’s desire to be good partners and keep them open for community use, but some decisions will need to be made regarding these properties.

Charlie Sharps asked for further explanation of the computer system being piggy- backed onto Eugene schools and what happened to the OTIS system. Rod explained that the OTIS vendor is going out of business. Tim Enright said the 14-year-old student accounting program was built on a DOS platform. The State, Portland, Multnomah, Eugene, and Springfield are all moving towards the new system. It is up and running in Bend and Beaverton and will be running in Portland next year. Tim said we can piggy- back onto Eugene’s trial runs next spring. Sue Walberg asked if this was the same program as North Bend uses. Tim said it was not. North Bend Superintendent Jim Howard confirmed they are leasing their student accounting program from Pentamation.

Referencing Object 331, Sue Nauman asked if reimbursable student transportation had increased because of reconfiguration. Rod said it would increase some, and they are still evaluating what the increase will be. He felt it would not be more than $25,000. Laidlaw is working on new routes.

Charlie Sharps asked why Object 470 included a new computer program for maintenance if that department is being cut so drastically. Rod answered that Ben Hammer’s recommendation to put in this $6,000 program, which will track parts inventory, jobs in progress, replacement schedules, warranties, etc., will make the department much more efficient. Administration believes the program will help save money in the long run.

Sue Walberg asked if the schools, which already submitted cuts, will be directed to cut further. Superintendent Parker said, now that we know Ballot Measure 13 failed, we have to see what the legislature will do. If they do back-fill, this budget is good; if they don’t, we’ll have to “go back to the drawing board.” His recommendation was, if further cuts are needed, the district take furloughs in order to keep a viable educational system. The alternative, cutting more teachers, means having 40-45 students in classrooms that can’t accommodate that many students. If the district took 15 or 16 days of furlough – with NO employees working or being paid – the reduced salaries would reduce total expenditures in order to make the required cuts. Superintendent Parker asked North Bend Superintendent Jim Howard what they would do. Dr. Howard said he won’t call back his budget committee to make further cuts or decisions until he sees what the legislature does. Personally, he thinks they may back-fill for next year. If not, they too will have to “go back to the drawing board” and look at the same things as Coos Bay. Tom Bennett asked Superintendent Howard if the North Bend board had looked at BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 6 curtailments. Dr. Howard said they had not specifically looked at that, but they have discussed many possibilities.

According to Dr. Parker, furloughs would mean cutting student “seat time” below minimum requirements and forces a district into a sub-standard situation. Caddy McKeown asked if there was any idea how many districts are considering furloughs. Superintendent Parker said Portland has confirmed they will – the first to start the process – and many other districts are talking about it. Tomorrow, May 23, ten or more superintendents across the state will be discussing the revenue shortfall at a COSA meeting. COSA has confirmed that many districts are talking about furloughs/curtailments.

Don Blom asked if the cost savings anticipated by reconfiguration came about. Rod assured him they did; in fact, he said the savings were even greater than they thought. The ability to have all 5th and 6th graders together made it much easier to equalize class sizes, which reduced the number of staff needed for those grades. Total savings from the reconfiguration was in the neighborhood of $800,000. Early estimates were between $225,000 and $250,000. They have been able to maintain average class size of 24:1 in elementary, below 27:1 in grades 5-8, and 160 contacts per day at the high school.

Returning to the subject of the certified librarian, Susan Nauman asked Charlie Sharps to explain why he wouldn’t want to get rid of a certified position in the Sunset library. Dr. Sharps said he doesn’t think a classified staff member can do the job a certified librarian can. Sue Walberg agreed. He also confirmed that Rod was correct when he said this was the choice of the principal. It was not a directive from administration or the board.

Caddy commented that, after many agonizing years of discussing the need to have counselors at the elementary schools, it’s great to see administrative support in that area. Superintendent Parker said Title I money will be used to help fund these positions. Title I money comes from the federal government. Since all three of the elementary schools plus Millicoma Intermediate School are school-wide Title I schools, the money will be used to fund programs for all students in those schools. Believing in “local control,” the schools generally decide how Title I money will be spent. But, since some of the staffing was still uncertain, some decisions were also made about spending Title I money next year. Administration included counselors in the budget and allocated Title I funds for them. The Resource Advisory Committee recommended these schools have counselors if at all possible. The budget includes a counselor at the middle school, which will be paid out of the general fund. Dr. Lyon said there are several other ideas “in the hopper” to help fund counselors. Title I money can be used to pay for either an employee or a contracted person for these services. He said the district has applied for federal grant money plus Medicaid billing services funds could be used for this purpose. BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 7

Tom Bennett said he likes the way they have “piece mealed” funds for counselors and suggested they could do the same for the swimming program. Not speaking against a program he supports, Superintendent Parker said he was burdened with the history of the program. Not too many years ago, the swimming program for elementary students didn’t even exist. Donna Bosselman, a teacher at Blossom Gulch, started walking her students to the pool since it was so close. Others saw it, wanted the program too, and it grew to what it is today. Susan Nauman suggested that, if it could be funded for a year through the district, fund-raising efforts could be made to fund following years. Debi Springsteen asked if are their were funds available from the closed schools. Dr. Parker said discretionary funds follow the schools; in other words, they will pass on to the remaining elementary schools.

Kathe Stufflebean, swimming instructor, reminded the committee that there are many other uses for the pool aside from the K-4 swimming program, including science classes, cross country, pole vaulting, etc. Four years ago, Millicoma Middle School started using it two weeks a year; now they use it six weeks a year. Kindergartners have had one-week programs, but now some want two-week programs. Kathe said the only school not using the pool is Sunset. She believes it is important to start kids swimming in kindergarten and not wait till 1st grade.

Referring to activities and athletics listed on page 8, Debi Springsteen asked why swimming specifically was picked to be cut. She asked if there might be other programs, say golf, that are not as utilized by so many students. Rod said they aren’t broken down by the number of kids in each sport. Scott Bassett suggesting raising the fee for sports from $50 to say $80. He has heard some of the Eugene schools are charging as much as $250. Charlie Sharps recommended looking at the number of kids involved in each activity and, if that number is down, then look at it as a possible area to cut. Superintendent Parker suggested it was like comparing “apples to oranges” when comparing varsity sports to elementary programs. Rod was asked how much it would cost to run the elementary swimming program as it has been run, keeping the swimming pool open as it was this year. Rod said that this budget includes keeping the pool open from November 4 to February 20. An additional $62,000 would be needed to run the program the full year as it has run.

Wally commented that no money was budgeted for election, and three Board positions will be open next year. Rod confirmed that was an oversight and that funds do need to budgeted next year for that purpose.

Budget Chairman Caddy McKeown asked about meeting Wednesday, May 29, and asked Rod what the timeline for adopting the budget. He answered that the Budget Hearing has been moved to June 26, which is about as late as possible in order to adopt a budget by the June 30 deadline. The Budget Committee needs to have recommended a budget no later than June 15 so Rod can publish required legal documents. Caddy asked Budget Committee members to get their questions to BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2002 PAGE 8 administrative staff before Tuesday, May 28, in order to have answers provided at the May 29 meeting.

Chairman Caddy McKeown adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.

______Caddy McKeown Mary Bjornerud Budget Committee Chairman Board Secretary