OCR Text |
Show Governor Scott State of Utah Salt Lake City, M. Rich County Matheson Utah 84114 chool District September 15, 1983 Dear Governor Matheson, letter is This being in response to! your recent request that written. Utah's public schools set aside an additional 4.5 million dollars from this year's budgets. Although we are a small school district and therefore a very small percentage of this amount, we think we should let you know situation. of our , Several years ago our Maintenance and Operations budget had a surplus of approximately four percent. We also. had a small surplus in Capital Outlay. We do not believe these amounts. were excessive. We are sure you would agree that wise and prudent financial planning includes a m which brought growth and modest surplus. We were in an our area our schools. In other words, and in to to turn opportunities things were going along reasonably well. Then we began to experience financial setbacks, both as a state and as a school district. Legislative cuts after budget adoptions, W.P.U. increases below inflation, floating of the W.P.U. , and other setbacks began to take their toll on our budget. We do not need to detail these events as they are very familiar to you. However, on top of all this we suffered a dramatic reduction in student enrollment last year of approximately twelve percent. We also exper iencedan eighty-fo- ur percent tax collection rate, fourteen percent lower than the figure used by the state and the district purposes. The result of all these elements has been a deficit ending balance for 1983; and more importantly, damaged educational programs. oil-boo- -- for-budget- ary deficit is now fifteen percent. This is Operations We are attempting to recover this deficit by devastating burden. four budgeting expenditures percent below anticipated revenues. Hopefully, this will get us back into the black within three or four years. But, to do this we have made cuts which, in our opinion, have been damaging to education in this county. We have cut the district teaching staff by fifteen percent, we no longer have a music program at North Rich High School, our salary schedule was kept at last year's eliminated the home economics program at South Rich High level, we have School, we now have some elementary classes with enrollments in the high thirties, we have cut out all' teaching aides except a reduced number in special education, we have cut all, school secretaries to half time, we have cut custodian time, and we have sharply reduced the maintenance and of our buildings. (We also transferred money from Capital Outlay to .Maintenance and Operations to the limit allowed and the legislature. The result is that we now have a by the-ladeficit in Capital Outlay as well of approximately eight percent.) Now a new year has started. Contracts are signed, the doors are open, and students are in school. Happily, our enrollments are as projected so the expected revenues should be available. However, if the WPU should float, or if the legislature, at your request, should cut us again, then it would wipe out our efforts to recover a portion of our deficit and could even plunge us further into debt. We do not have the luxury as does higher education, of turning students away if revenues The students are here and we must do our best to do not materialize. Our Maintenance and a -- up-ke- ep ' educate them. there is a feeling among some people in the and,.can absorb all and any cuts districts we"are "fat" we can prove to you that in at believe However, case this is not true. Further cuts simply mean fi further deterioration of educational programs. We that is what people want. We would suggest kinderc transportation, school lunch , and drivers educatior possibilities for State cuts. These cuts would noi know We . district's would problem since reduct: cause reductions in revet particular programs would be substantial savings to the state which cot cuts in basic educational programs. The only othei have are to continue to increase class size, cut m financial with our programs which do not carry salaries and go through are already in We situation cuts -- and our "ear-marke- d" funding, ; school state, that on imposed can cut programs arten, pupil if as unfortunate help us directly these ues. But, there ons in Id protect against we' possibilities re general education nd hold down the trouble and discord th; t would result. and very difficult financial technically illegal are educational programs suffering accordingly. More us a only put deeper into that position. triTes Parker , Ed.D. William Hopkin School Board President Superintendent of Schools would them, least Rich County's rther deficits and a |