PERRYVILLE SCHOOLS TO DISCUSS ISSUES

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville School District voters on April 4 rejected three funding proposals by a 2-to-1 ratio, and the Board of Education wants to know why.

The school board will hold three public meetings to hear voters explain their concerns and why they rejected the proposals, which would have provided bond proceeds and tax-levy funding for recruitment and retention of staff, driver's education instruction, building maintenance and construction of an upper-elementary school.

The school district will announce next week where and when the meetings will be held.

"We're really interested in what people are thinking," said Superintendent Steve Doerr. "Are they saying they don't want higher taxes? Were the salary and maintenance issues not there? Do they think there is not a need for smaller class sizes? Or is it that they don't trust the school board and administration? We're trying to determine what it is their election was telling us."

Much of the district's needs are based on a gradual reduction in state aid over the years. Doerr said the district has been penalized because local tax funding has remained the same even though the assessed valuation of the county has grown.

"The problem that that creates is the state sees us as being wealthy, but the community's perspective is the assessed valuation is growing so we shouldn't need more taxes," he said.

The school board opted to forego an opportunity to increase the local tax levy without voter approval last fall. Lawmakers allowed school districts with tax levies under $2.75 per $100 assessed valuation to increase the levies to that amount by a vote of the board. Perryville's levy of $2.70 met criteria for the increase, but Doerr said doing so would have created negative feelings in the community without providing great financial gain.

"We found out increasing the property taxes a nickel would have given us $90,000 in local aid, but it would have taken about $78,000 in state aid away," he said. "We didn't figure $12,000 was worth the hassle with the community.

"We're kind of in a catch-22 situation, and what was more economical for us was to maintain that $2.70 levy," he said.

Doerr said failure of the proposals doesn't mean the district's problems no longer exist. The district of about 2,300 students is overcrowded despite a dip in population this year, and textbooks and other equipment are becoming outdated, he said. The buildings are becoming older and require increased maintenance, he said.

The district also pays low salaries to experienced teachers, he said. Beginning salaries for the district are about average for the region, but Doerr said students at recruitment fairs are indicating they are willing to go to smaller or more rural districts that offer higher starting salaries.

"We're competing out there for young teachers that can go someplace else and make at least $3,000 more than we're offering," he said.

The district isn't fairing any better with veteran teachers, the superintendent said. Teachers who have more experience and have advanced their education are underpaid compared to other districts in the region, and they are starting to go elsewhere, Doerr said.

To date, the district has received 15 resignations effective the end of the school year. Departing teachers have indicated low salaries are related to their decision to leave, Doerr said. Also related is the district's 180-day school calendar, which is five days longer than the state mandate.

"Our teachers are being asked to work five days more than other districts and are not being compensated," he said.

The school calendar may be one of many things cut by the district to reduce the district's $15 million budget. During the public meetings, the community will be asked for its input into possible spending cuts, and the faculty and staff already are being polled.

Salaries generally make up about three-fourths of a school district's budget, which makes that an obvious starting point when considering budget reductions. In Perryville, salaries make up about 70 percent of the budget, largely due to the lower salary scale, Doerr said.

He said the school board likely will consider not filling some open positions for the next school year. Other budget reductions could include not purchasing needed textbooks or limiting field trips and the number of students allowed to participate in extracurricular activities so that no new equipment or supplies are needed.

"We want to try and provide some increase in our salaries for our employees, and that means we're going to have to make some program cuts," Doerr said. "The things we were trying to address in the election haven't gone away and will not go away."