9-R Budget

Updates in progress March 2006

"When I see a story I know there's always
another side. Just like a coin, I always turn to
look at the other side." -- correspondent Peter Jennings

Are we getting the whole story about money?

The failure of the District's request for a "transportation override" last November surprised many of us. The amount was a pittance compared to the $84.5 million bond approved three years earlier. What were voters thinking?

Maybe it is because people eventually view budgets as the bottom line. They are supposed to represent our values and we deserve to know how spending decisions are made. In Colorado, state statutes require parent and community input for prioritizing expenditures. It is part of the accountability equation. That is why we have asked the District to be sure that School Advisory Councils are created at every building.

Clearly, this latest 2005 mill levy override was a painless way for homeowners to help restore District coffers at a time of statewide fiscal crisis; the average homeowner's share in raising the anticipated $415,000 a year would have been a mere 45 cents per month. And because of the way assessments are calculated, business owners and commercial properties would have provided the bulk of the funding.

What was not so clear was where this mill levy override fit into a larger strategy. In fact, is there a longterm strategy? Is the Board - or its Financial Accountability Committee - making plans for what will happen if deficits continue to deplete reserves?

Why transparency in budget information matters

It is never too late to explain to an attentive public how spending decisions are made in the first place, and how budget cuts are decided when they become necessary. Just tell the truth. Official ballot literature last fall stated that unless the transportation override passed, vital educational programs - specifically teacher aides, and reading and math specialists -- would likely be cut. Was that true? If so, how were cuts to be decided? Would teacher aides that elementary parents value have been axed before other budget items? Who was analyzing the educational impacts of other 9-R budget categories? Who is supposed to evaluate the educational return for dollars spent? For example, are all salary categories and cost of living increases always sacred, automatic even for those top positions? What about dues and subscriptions, travel expenses? We have looked at the budget and think that within 9-R's $34,000,000, some categories -amounting to several hundreds of thousands of dollars each - suggest at least a first look: "Supplies ---Equipment --- Purchases ---and another one: "Other Purchases." Shouldn't such categories be thoroughly searched before eliminating aides and other direct educational services the 9-R campaign literature threatened?

What happened to the robust enrollment growth projections of three years ago?

For the past five years, consistently falling student counts have reduced the 9-R District revenues each year -- resulting in losses of revenue of $2.7 million since the 2000-2001 year. Yet we hear that our reduction in revenues has been caused by the events of 9/11.

Every time a family opts a child out of 9-R and chooses an alternative to the public system, the District loses thousands of dollars. The official 9-R analysis is that student numbers haven't kept pace with 9-R projections because of the fires of 2002 and the failure of state and local economies to recover from the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Some would question how directly our community demographics have been affected by fears of terrorists and exert a little energy toward exit interviews for students who leave the district? Why do families in Durango homeschool? Is the large comprehensive high school model meeting all our students' needs? If not, what other public options exist?

Should we have had a "small schools conversation" before we spent close to $90 million revamping our campuses? When we are told a small second high school would be too expensive to consider, whose definition of "too expensive" was used? When we are told that pizzas are a good deal because students like them and they're cheaper than healthy local farm fresh food what is left out of the equation? Remediation of special ed students costing us too much? What is the longterm costs of allowing students to slip through the cracks? Of undercounting our dropout rates? Where do school budgets intersect with the rapidly soaring costs of prisons?

More spin with number:? 9-R claims "static" enrollment, by definition implying a stable, steady number of students, neither increasing or dropping but figures show declining numbers. Further, what happened to 1 - 3 % annual enrollment projections used to sell us on increasing the size of every school in the District. What methods were used to calculate these estimates, given reports that people moving to Durango were not, for the most part, bringing children with them. Eventually, of course, we will see the classrooms filled, but in the meantime, too many people are aware that some of our rural schools are way under capacity.

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) shows 9-R's “funded pupil count” as dropping significantly every year since 2000-2001. If student numbers had stayed the same as the District contends, 9-R's funding for the '04-'05 school year would have been been a very significant $1.2 million higher.

9-R enrollment figures according to CDE:
Starting in 2000 with 4738 students, 9-R's funded pupil count dropped to 4690 in 2001, 4668 in 2002, 4596 in 2003-04, 4534 in 2004-05. (Or 204 students fewer over a 4 year period from 2000 to 2004-05))

Because there are several official ways to count students, it can be hard to get on the same page with enrollment numbers, but we should try. The annual "October count" is based on real children, sitting on seats. The "FTE count" differs from the "funded pupil count." Generall,y 9-R and CDE figures should mesh. The important thing is to get together as citizens to begin to make some sense of where we really are and where we seem to be going with student enrollments across the District. Our future funding depends on this.

Durango Herald July 15, 2005 9-R Approves tax increase on ballot
Durango Herald July 3, 2005 9-R Bracing for Decreased Enrollment
Durango Herald June 29, 2005 “Budget of $34.2M wins initial approval”

For an excellent summary of school budget concerns see: American School Board Journal
”School Spending: the Business of Education”

Read letter to 9-R Board from parent education advocate: Vickie Gallegos, June 28

Read text of presentation to board from Vickie Gallegos, Sept. 13

Sept. 14 The Durango Herald "9-R budget in good shape, official says;Doney fears enrollment decreases, other factors may hurt in 2006-2007"

May 24 - Finance Director Diane Doney shared initial budget projections for next fiscal year in work sessions with Board. District should be able to avoid dipping below required reserves for next two years, but if today's flat or declining enrollments should continue, tougher times lie ahead.

Responding to our urging, the District agreed to “develop a budget document that explains the budget in layman's terms” as recommended by CASB, the Colorado Association of School Boards. This is now posted on the 9-R website at http://www.durango.k12.co.us/supt/home.htm as "Community Guide to Understanding Public School Finance and the 9-R Budget"

The idea of tackling the 9R annual School Budget holds little appeal for those of us without accounting degrees. However, we probably should try our best because this is the place where hopes and dreams get matched with money.

When you hear the words “we can't afford it” attached to your favorite program – whether it's French language for first graders, aides for a kindergarten teacher, a violin for the child whose parents can't afford one, or the opinion that small schools are actually more cost efficient – one place for checking out the facts is in your School District's budget.

If you want to know where the money comes from and where it goes, you're probably going to have to bite the bullet and spend an evening with a spread sheet or get together with a friend willing to do it for the rest of us.

Clearly, we need to have access to the details if we're to participate in the decisionmaking process. Did we budget enough for the additional custodial and energy costs that come with the expansions of our buildings? Can we afford additional counselors to ensure that all our children meet the new graduation requirements that will align with college admissions changes? What methods has the District been using to generate enrollment projections - numbers that have driven the scale of classroom construction and the redistricting of neighborhoods?

WHY SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO THE BUDGET?

Who knows where the money goes? Who decides? How does a school board translate a community's vision into dollars and cents?

Every year in June, the board is required by statute to hold a public hearing before it can approve the preliminary budget for the following school year. That happened in June 2005, and to some extent it was the once a year moment when we as a community could make sure we are “putting our money where our mouth is.” Typically, few citizens have access to the kind of information needed to participate and it is part of this website's mission to create access that will allow you to participate.

Traditionally, budget hearings for city, county, and school district draw miniscule crowds. But with 9R expenditures exceeding $37 million, there's must be a pocket or two of flexibility that could make your interested presence
worthwhile.

BEFORE YOU GO

What can you do to get informed enough to participate in public hearings on budgets?

WHERE CAN YOU SEE THE 9-R BUDGET?

Responding to our urging, the District agreed "to develop a budget document that explains the budget in layman's terms” as recommended by CASB, the Colorado Association of School Boards. This was to be posted on the 9-R website at http://www.durango.k12.co.us/supt/home.htm as "Community Guide to Understanding Public School Finance and the 9-R Budget"

A site search of the 9R website also turned up this barebones look at the 2002-2003 budget, but it's a start for looking at general categories. http://www.durango.k12.co.us/pio/ar/budget.htm#BUDGET

For more information, contact: the Public Information Officer Deborah Uroda at duroda@durango.k12.co.us

MAKING THE 9-R BUDGET EASIER TO ACCESS:

We support the 9R District in moving toward more transparency in all its departments. We know there may be substantial costs associated with developing a more user friendly approach to school board news. We support the sharing of as much public information as possible. Citizens need to be aware of other options such as attendance at board work sessions. These are always open to the public. Contact the District Office for times and locations (970) 247-5411.

You can also contact school board members who are currently considering webcasting options which could eventually allow live access to meetings -a popular and valuable decison made some years ago by the Durango City Council.
If you have high speed internet access you can download the July 12 meeting now. NEW! 9-R Board of Education meeting videos now on the Web

WHAT ARE BEST PRACTICES FOR PUBLIC BUDGET CONVERSATIONS?

Some Districts make it easier. Over time we hope that 9-R administrators will explore other models and set a goal of actually putting its budget online. At the least, we recommend the Board begin talking face to face with citizens about general trends and specific expenditure categories that are impacting our children and their educational options.

CASB - the Colorado Association of School Boards has an excellent, thorough template for communicating with ordinary citizens.
"Communicating about school finance and other issues" http://www.casb.org/Services /Toolkit/Toolkit.htm

Other District models (NOTE: These links below now seem to be out of date ... perhaps you can Google them for updates; when the 9-R website changed to http://durangoschools.org/ many of our links to 9-R information disappeared.)

WHAT KINDS OF DECISIONS ARE "BUDGET DEPENDENT"?

All our educational hopes are grounded by the bottom line, the available dollars. Major funding comes from local property taxes, the state and the Federal government. Recent legislation in Colorado made it clear that Colorado will not punish any District that chooses to opt out of No Child Left Behind, the Federal law that has mandated the expensive testing and recordkeeping. Some entire states and some Colorado districts are thinking they might serve their children better if they were freed from NCLB's constraints. Those that are opting out must do without the Federal money tied to NCLB compliance.

Because 9R uses $750,000 a year of Federal money - for reading programs for “at risk” children – 9R administrators have suggested opting out would be a moot question. We couldn't give up that much money or those programs. But should this decision be totally budget driven? The board decision in 2002 to expand Durango High School to 2000 students and "bail" on the idea of two smaller schools was attributed to hiring costs of running two buildings. Where are we, the citizens, in these conversations?

Durango School Talk is exploring the idea of a local public conversation about No Child Left Behind. Understanding the 9R budget will be essential for framing that dialogue and others. We hope you will find a way to participate.

To read more on these questions:

Read more on our Links and Resources page.