A shortfall in state collections spurs the Oklahoma Department of Education to increase cuts this year to more than 7-percent for all public schools. This means TPS officials are trying to cut another million dollars from their budget bringing the total so far to nearly 2.5 million dollars. It all boils down to students and education.
TPS Superintendent Dr. Keith Ballard says the current cuts are just the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Ballard says, "It is likely cuts could run 8 to 10 million which would really have a catastrophic impact on Tulsa Public Schools." He plans to put a hiring freeze in place for TPS. The district will more than likely have to furlough 12 month employees which doesn't include teachers. Under the plan substitute teachers would no longer be utilized which means current staff would have to pick up the slack.
Michelle Diz teaches 29 kindergartners at Eisenhower Elementary and has her hands full. She says, "If we have double the kids to watch over learning is not going to occur. We are going to be baby-sitting not teaching." Dr. Ballard understands the budget shortfall has resulted in a financial puzzle that's missing pieces. He says, "If it runs to 13 million I think it is an impossible situation. If it happens then school doesn't look anything like it looks today."
Beyond the numbers, lies childrens education. Dr. Ballard asks how anyone can put a price on that. He says, "We have to protect the classroom as our number one priority." Dr. Ballard says if layoffs need to be made they will be in administration. He says he will focus on trying to protect teacher's jobs.
BUDGET SITUATION
Tulsa Public Schools’ November state aid payments, received on November 13 of this year, were reduced by just over $1 million. During the first three months of this fiscal year, Tulsa Public Schools’ budget has been reduced by $1.4 million. Budget cuts have been identified and enacted in order to offset those reductions.
With this latest round of reductions, total cuts to the TPS budget will total $2.5 million. This has occurred in just the first four months of this school year and if the trend continues, expectations are that total cuts for this fiscal year could be in the $8-10 million dollar range.
BUDGET REDUCTION PHILOSOPHY
- Maintain a balanced budget and discharge fiduciary responsibilities.
- Protect classrooms to the fullest extent possible and make reductions that directly affect classrooms as a last resort.
- Provide essential services to students.
- Make every attempt to protect jobs during this school year and avoid any layoffs during the current year.
SHORT-TERM BUDGET REDUCTION STRATEGIES
- Freeze hiring with case-by-case exceptions as determined by the superintendent, exceptions will only be made in extreme situations.
- Plan for furlough days for 12-month staff on non-school days. Furloughs could possibly extend to 9-month employees if the financial picture continues to deteriorate.
- Strongly consider implementing an alternate teacher substitute program which would include ESC staff, volunteers, teachers substituting during their planning periods and assigning non-classroom personnel to substitute duty.
- Curtail travel.
- Discontinue nonessential purchases.
For the long term, Dr. Ballard has asked a small group of cabinet members to examine staffing among the administrative, support and teaching ranks. He has directed a close scrutiny of administrative positions at ESC.
Dr. Keith Ballard's message to TPS employees is as follows:"Yesterday, the Oklahoma State Department of Education notified all schools in Oklahoma that state aid would be cut by 7.11 percent for the November state aid allocation. The loss to Tulsa Public Schools for this monthly cut alone will be just over $1 million. Previous cuts this year have amounted to $1.4 million bringing current budget year reductions to $2.5 million.
It is time for us to act. Immediate action must be taken to bring the budget in line with revenues. Accompanying this message is a budget reduction plan from Chief Financial Officer Trish Williams, which details budget reduction recommendations. Yes, it includes furloughs for 12-month employees. I would have preferred to have made that announcement to all staff before it came out in the media, but we did not have the luxury of time. The reduction announcement came yesterday and the media expected an announcement from me this morning which I provided.
Also included in the plan is a statement of philosophy that, as school officials, we will discharge fiduciary responsibilities in a responsible manner. That means we will remain within a balanced budget as state law requires. We further state that we will do everything possible to protect the classroom from any negative impact as well as a strong effort to protect essential student services. Please also note that we will do everything possible to protect jobs for this year. Based on current information, I am hoping there will be no layoffs during this school year. I do anticipate a reduction in positions for the next school year.
As the plan further states, we will implement furloughs and a hiring freeze, eliminate substitute teachers, discontinue non-essential purchases and curtail travel. Those strategies will be visited during the year and adjusted according to further budget developments.
In planning for next year, I have directed a small group of ESC officials to make recommendations to reduce the number of administrators at the ESC. That report will not be available until after the first of the year. I am also certain that, if current conditions remain, the teaching force will have to be reduced for next year. Of course that will result in larger class sizes. It is my intention for that to occur through attrition and I will do everything possible to avoid teacher layoffs.
It is unclear what will happen at the state level. Some top state officials are telling us to plan for the worst, with reductions possibly as high as 10 percent in this fiscal year. Other state officials are stating that next year’s stimulus dollars could be utilized to lessen the impact on the current budget year. If that happens, the 2010-2011 budget would be dramatically reduced.
In conclusion, the TPS 2009-2010 budget has been reduced by $2.5 million and we are told to prepare for a 5-7 percent reduction month by month. We have to act now!
I will keep all of you informed as there are further developments. I appreciate all of you for diligently serving the children of TPS.
