Arizona School Budget Crisis 2009
Email Messages from Superintendent Kevin Kapp to PUSD Employees
FW: FY 10 Budget Preparations
Kevin J. Kapp 03/30/09
Hello Everyone,
Attached is a letter from Panfilo Contreras, the Executive Director of the Arizona School Boards Association. The letter is a good summary of why Prescott Unified School District is forced to initiate a Reduction in Force affecting all PUSD employees hired within the past three years. We simply don't know the extent of budget reductions we'll be forced to implement for next year and we have to create flexibility to accomplish whatever level of budget reductions required.
By the way, the 7 % budget reduction estimate in Panfilo Contreras' letter equates to approximately $ 1.75 million for PUSD. Whether or not this amount would have to come completely from our Maintenance & Operations (M & O) budget remains to be seen. We are hoping that the State Legislature gives us flexibility to use Soft Capital and other funding sources to offset the overall budget reduction, whatever this ends up being for 2009-10.
These are challenging times, to say the least.
Please know that we are working very hard to be prepared for whatever budget reductions we need to put into place for next year with the hope that we won't have to implement budget reductions to the maximum.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Kapp, Superintendent
To: |
Governing Board Members and Superintendents |
From: |
Panfilo Contreras, ASBA Executive Director |
Date: |
March 30, 2009 |
Re: |
FY10 Budget Preparations |
As you know, the Fiscal Year 2010 budget is like nothing we have seen in previous years. Arizona is facing a $3 billion deficit and numerous proposals abound – everything from a tax increase to suspension of the Voter Protection Act to cutting programs. Because of this uncertainty, ASBA, along with AASBO, school attorneys, and key legislators, considered various options to provide our school districts with the flexibility needed to make the best decisions possible. We know that we aren’t just dealing with numbers in the FY10 budget; we are dealing with peoples’ lives. To that end, HB 2630/SB 1186 (school districts; personnel contracts) was introduced to allow school district governing boards the flexibility to both provide notice of non-renewal and the offering of contacts to June 15th. For this to be meaningful, the legislation had to pass with a 2/3 vote so that it would take effect immediately. It did not due to partisan leveraging and opposition from the Arizona Education Association.
What this means is that the April 15th deadline in 15-503 and 15-536 remains to give notice of intention to not reemploy for the next year for certified teachers employed less than three years, certified administrators, and certified school psychologists. In addition, the May 15th deadline remains (15-536, 15-538.01, and 15-544) in which to offer a teaching contract or a general salary reduction for all certified teachers and administrators. At this point, with the defeat of this bill to provide flexibility, we urge you to err on the side of caution. We know that many districts are already facing cuts to their funding with the anticipated decline in Prop. 301 monies, declining enrollment, loss of utilities funding, etc. In addition, the Chairman’s Options contemplate $900 million of possible cuts. While we do not believe that the cuts will be that large when the FY10 budget is finalized, we urge you to be conservative in your budgeting at this time.
ASBA is focused on working with the Legislature and Executive on reconciling the FY10 budget as soon as possible, while ensuring education is a top priority. In fact, our subsequent conversations have said that cuts for K-12 education are being discussed in the 5-7% range, which we hope will be further negotiated down. Please continue to stay apprised of budget and legislative issues by monitoring the Daily In-Session Updates, available at www.azsba.org.