Lee’s Summit School District forced to make reductions in Parents As Teachers program
Posted by GSDispatch Editor in by Lee’s Summit R7 School District, Community, GSD Online
Dramatic cuts in state funding force Lee’s Summit R-7 School District to make reductions in Parents As Teachers program for families of young children
R-7 eliminates close to 100 staff positions so far; metro-area
Missouri districts reducing staffing by more than 1,500 employees
PHOTO: Parents As Teachers
Dramatic reductions in state funding for Missouri’s long-running Parents As Teachers (PAT) program will result in reduced services for the approximately 2,500 Lee’s Summit R-7 School District families currently enrolled in this popular service for parents of young children. According to the budget approved this month by the Missouri General Assembly, the state will provide approximately $13 million in funding for Parents As Teachers for 2010-11, compared to $30 million allocated for the program in 2009-10.
Depending on actions taken by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, it is possible that Parents As Teachers will lose additional revenue for 2010-11. Although PAT was initially allocated $30 million for the 2009-10 school year, withholdings throughout this school year reduced state funding by $7 million.
Lee’s Summit R-7 School District families enrolled in the program are receiving letters during mid May to notify them of changes in Parents As Teachers. A total of 10 Lee’s Summit R-7 PAT staff members are being laid off from their jobs for the 2010-11 school year. These 10 staff members are approximately one-third of the local program’s employees. R-7 PAT officials are working to develop a plan for the 2010-11 school year that is based on the reduced funding and staffing. Families enrolled in the program will be receiving more information by this fall about these changes.
School districts across the state are facing similar funding challenges for both Parents As Teachers and overall district budgets. Although some districts are reportedly cutting back on their local funding for Parents As Teachers, Lee’s Summit R-7 is maintaining its commitment to this valuable program and will not decrease its school district funding for PAT in 2010-11. The R-7 School District has budgeted close to $730,000 in funding to help PAT during this challenging time, which is the same amount allocated by the school district in 2009-10. The state’s contribution to R-7 Parents As Teachers has dropped to an estimated $264,000 with the possibility of additional state funding reductions on the horizon.
Parents As Teachers is a free, voluntary program that provides home visits to families with preschool-age children as well as developmental screenings, parent-child group meetings, story times, playgroups, speakers and special programs.
“Parents As Teachers is a successful program in our community and has helped thousands of R-7 parents give their children the best possible start in life,” said Dr. David McGehee, R-7 superintendent. “Unfortunately, these are unprecedented times for public education as school districts nationwide lose state funding and see reductions in local revenue as a result of declining property values.”
Despite the fact that R-7 officials have been preparing for these budget challenges for several years, the current fiscal crisis in public education continues to escalate. The ongoing loss in funding is the most dramatic financial crisis faced by the school district in its 61-year history. This increasingly grim situation is likely to continue for some time and is impacting school districts across Missouri and nationwide. The Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, which has been among Missouri’s fastest growing for several decades, is being forced to make significant budget cuts while also addressing enrollment growth and rising costs, especially in the areas of fuel, utilities and insurance.
The R-7 School District is cost containing approximately $9.1 million for this school year. Based on existing state budget projections, R-7 officials plan to cost contain $16.6 million in 2010-11. This is over 10 percent of the district’s operating expenditure budget. State funding for public education may also be reduced between now and the start of the budget year on July 1. The state budget has been approved by the General Assembly and is awaiting the governor’s signature. Gov. Jay Nixon may be required to withhold additional education funding before the start of the 2010-11 budget year in Lee’s Summit R-7 and throughout the next school year to maintain a balanced state budget, which is required by Missouri law. These additional reductions would result in even more losses for state school districts.
Cost containment measures enacted this school year include reductions in district-wide budgets, staffing reductions implemented primarily through attrition as employees retire or resign, energy savings and deferring of maintenance. Throughout the last two years, R-7 officials have been planning for these reductions in revenue with a focus on implementing cuts with the least possible impact on students.
The more significant losses in state funding for 2010-11 will result in additional budget reductions that will have a greater impact on students. With more than $16 million being cost contained in 2010-11, cuts will include:
- Reduction of administrative, instruction and support staff positions, mainly through attrition, totaling close to 100 employees as of early May and resulting in increasing class sizes throughout the school district.
- A teaching schedule change for 2010-11 requiring that high-school instructors reduce their planning time and teach an additional course each day.
- The implementation of “combination classrooms” at elementary schools to equalize class sizes while also reducing staff positions. The combination classrooms are currently planned for approximately 15 classes at an estimated 11 elementary schools. This is close to 3 percent of all elementary classrooms. A combination classroom refers to two grade levels assigned to one classroom and one teacher. For example, one teacher may teach a fifth-grade/sixth-grade “split.” At this time, R-7 officials plan to avoid combining kindergarten, first or second grades.
- Reductions or possible elimination of the elementary summer school program, depending on state officials’ decisions on funding this spring.
- Reduction in staffing of the R-7 Parents As Teachers program by approximately 33 percent due to significant cuts in state funding for this program which serves parents of young children.
- Continuation of all 2009-10 cost-containment efforts such as deferring of maintenance and further reduction of budgets district-wide.
- A district-wide salary schedule freeze with the exception of teachers who have earned additional higher education credits and are being allowed to advance a “step” on the salary schedule. (This “step movement” for teachers earning additional education is funded through reallocated savings resulting from lower-than-expected increases in health-insurance costs.)
Plans for the 2011-12 school year include a schedule change at the middle schools, requiring that middle-school teachers lose their team planning time and teach an additional course each day. Both the high-school and middle-school schedule changes will allow the district to reduce staffing through attrition over the next few years with less impact on class size in secondary schools. Despite the recent layoffs in the Parents As Teachers program, the R-7 School District has eliminated approximately 100 staff positions with 90 percent of these jobs reduced through attrition. R-7 officials are closely examining all “open positions” due to resignations and retirements and making decisions to not fill some jobs whenever possible.
Education is considered a “people business,” and close to 80 percent of the R-7 budget consists of salaries and benefits for its approximately 2,500 employees. This heavy emphasis on people makes it necessary to reduce staffing positions as the cuts in funding continue to grow.
The Lee’s Summit R-7 School District is not alone in this financial crisis. In the metropolitan area, 25 Missouri school districts reporting stated they will be reducing their budgets by at least $121 million collectively for 2010-11 and cutting a combined 1,515 staff positions, according to Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City. Unfortunately, it is likely both the budget reductions and the staffing cuts will increase for Lee’s Summit and for districts statewide unless state tax collections rebound in the near future.
R-7 officials will continue to monitor the state funding situation and provide updated information to parents, employees and community members as it becomes available. For more information about the district’s budget challenges, visit the R-7 website at www.leesummit.k12.mo.us and select “Budget Challenges” on the right side of the page.
