SPORTS NEXT ON PERRYVILLE CHOPPING BLOCK

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perryville High's marching band won't take the field at half-time, because there won't be a half-time. There won't be football, basketball or any other sports played in the 2002-2003 school year if voters don't approve a 50-cent tax hike in November, school district officials warn.

Without a tax hike, the district will be forced to cut all extracurricular activities in Perry County School District No. 32 and eliminate some jobs.

Board members and school officials say it's not a threat, just a financial disaster prompted by voters' repeated rejection of school bond issues and tax hikes over a quarter century.

They say the district, which has frozen teacher salaries and expects to dip into its reserves by as much as $300,000 this year, can't afford the $230,000 a year it takes to support all the extracurricular activities in its schools without a tax hike.

"We are at that nightmare," said schools superintendent Steve Doerr, who heads up a district that has about 2,350 students and about 300 employees.

Voters in the countywide school district have rejected every tax hike since passing a $1.25 million bond issue for a new high school in 1974. They approved a few levy measures, but none caused a tax increase.

The district is one of only 18 in Missouri with a tax levy below $2.75. But while the levy has stayed the same, expectations from the district have increased, educators explain. There are special education services, new technology and adult education classes that weren't offered before.

The latest defeat came Tuesday when voters narrowly rejected a proposed 25-cent levy hike that would have generated $475,000 in added revenue from real-estate and personal-property taxes and increased state funding tied to the levy. Much of the money was earmarked for supplies and salary increases. The measure failed by 63 votes.

Voter apathy

Supporters of the public school system blame voter apathy and the unwillingness of parochial school parents in the heavily Catholic community to support increased property taxes for schools they don't use.

But parents of students in the Catholic school system, which serves about 500 children in elementary and high school, don't apologize. They say they pay twice: once in tuition and again in property taxes to support the public school district.

"It's coming out of my pocket," said Russell Paulus of Perryville, who voted against the latest proposal.

He and his wife grew up in the Catholic schools. Their three children graduated from St. Vincent High School in Perryville.

"We pay plenty to District 32 as it is," he said. "If I thought the sky was falling, I would support it."

Paulus said many Catholic-school parents feel the same way -- they believe the public schools waste a lot of money and don't need a tax hike.

The lack of support for Perryville's public schools isn't limited to parochial school parents.

Mary Nations, a 15-year-old sophomore at Perryville High School who plays clarinet in the marching band, said she knows of classmates whose parents voted against the tax hike. She's angered by such opposition and voter apathy -- 75 percent of the district's voters didn't go to the polls last week.

"It is like nobody cares," a disgusted Nations said.

She worries the district will eliminate marching band. Such extracurricular activities help students get into college, she said.

The vote left Nations' mother shaking her head as well.

"There is just not the parental support for the school like there used to be," said Thelma Nations, whose 11 children have been in Perry County's public schools for a combined 29 years.

She said the community is divided between the public and parochial schools, making it harder to pass a tax levy.

Back in November

The most recent ballot measure was the first of two 25-cent tax hikes school officials wanted this year.

But with the failure of the August ballot measure, a frustrated school board voted Wednesday to put the entire 50-cent tax increase as well as a full waiver of the Proposition C rollback on the Nov. 6 ballot. Both issues would be part of the same ballot measure.

If approved, the levy would increase from $2.70 to $3.20 per $100 assessed valuation and generate $984,000 in added local revenue and state money tied to the local levy. The district stands to receive more state money if the local levy goes up, Doerr said.

The added money would fund pay raises, school supplies, maintenance and other expenses.

Without waivers, school districts must roll back their levies if their assessed valuations rise above a certain percentage under a complicated formula worked out by the state.

Board member Raymond Monier said he doubts voters will approve the tax hike until the district makes some painful spending cuts such as eliminating high-school sports.

He wants the board to eliminate immediately extracurricular activities and adult education courses. "The only thing that could wake this town up is to cut everything that we can cut," he said. "It's time to stand up to the community."

But the rest of the board has rejected that idea, deciding to limp along financially this fall in hopes voters will get the message and vote for the ballot measure.

Eliminating sports won't be a popular solution for the district. Some parents have told the school superintendent they plan to enroll their children in other schools if the district takes such action. They want their children to be able to play sports, Doerr said.

Outward appearance

He said some voters don't realize how dire the situation is because outwardly the elementary, middle- and high-school complex in Perryville looks nice, he said, with well maintained buildings and manicured lawns.

"Our facility has very good curb appeal," said Doerr.

But inside, the district already has made major cuts.

Last year, it eliminated 15 positions, most of them teaching jobs. Fewer teachers have led to larger class sizes, with more than 30 students in some.

Without added revenue, the district may be laying off cooks and custodians next year, Doerr said.

Mired in the financial crisis, the school district can't schedule additional non-conference games in any sport. School officials don't want to pay a penalty for having to break a contract should the district have to cancel activities.

Local tax revenue and state funding won't cover all of this year's $15.7 million operating budget without a levy hike, school officials say.

The district was in the red by $440,413 last fiscal year and is projected to be in the red by as much as $300,000 this fiscal year if votes don't approve the proposed tax hike.

The district has stayed afloat by dipping into its reserve fund, but that can't continue forever.

"We have frozen teacher salaries. All our budgets were cut," said Carolyn Pontillas, school board president.

Supplies budget reduced

The district's budget for supplies has been reduced by $375,000 since fiscal 1999. The district is spending $317,000 less on equipment and maintenance than it did three years ago.

Even the budget for the elementary, middle- and high-school libraries have been cut, from $65,000 in 1999 to a paltry $8,700 this year.

The salary freeze has angered teachers. "It's very difficult to swallow," said Bill Fischer, the high school band director. "We are looking at a budget that is just plain unrealistic."

Fischer said the district is on the verge of losing teachers and administrators to other districts that don't have a budget crisis.

Pontillas said the district needs the backing of parents. Without their support, she said, Perryville's public schools will continue to decline.

The district had a low-key campaign for the August ballot measure. School officials plan a more visible campaign for the November election. "We are going to step it up a little bit and make an effort to contact more parents," said Doerr.

"We are going to try to work with business people a little more and get their support," he said.

School district's taxing history

Oct. 22, 1974 -- Voters approve $1.25 million bond issue for new high school, 958 to 329.

April 5, 1977 -- 23-cent tax hike defeated, 509 for to 1,390 against.

Feb. 7, 1978 -- 10-cent tax hike defeated, 604 for to 1,509 against.

April 3, 1979 -- $600,000 bond issue for building improvements defeated, 957 for to 1,882 against. Three school tax proposals on the ballot also were defeated, losing by more than two to one margins.

Nov. 6, 1979 -- $560,000 bond issue for a vocational building defeated, 847 for to 1,045 against.

April 7, 1981 -- Proposal to increase operating levy by 15 cents and lower debt service levy by the same amount passed, 1,173 to 834.

April 6, 1982 -- Proposal to increase operating levy by 20 cents and lower debt service levy by the same amount passed, 1,576 to 1,350.

April 2, 1985 -- 44-cent tax hike defeated, 834 for to 1,291 against.

April 1, 1986 -- 37-cent tax hike defeated, 1,119 for to 1,806 against.

Aug. 5, 1986 -- 37-cent tax hike defeated, 1,807 for to 2,053 against.

Feb. 3, 1987 -- 37-cent tax hike defeated, 669 for to 1,690 against.

April 7, 1992 -- $4.9 million bond issue for building improvements failed, 2,106 for to 1,902 against. A 19-cent tax hike on the same ballot also was defeated, 1,875 for to 2,132 against.

Aug. 4, 1992 -- $4.9 million bond issue for building improvements defeated, 2,221 for to 2,149 against.

Feb. 2, 1993 -- Proposal to increase operating levy by 18 cents and lower debt service levy by the same amount passed, 1,855 for to 940 against.

Oct. 5, 1993 -- Partial waiver of Prop. C tax rollback (no tax increase) passed, 1,374 to 121.

April 4, 2000 -- A $5.3 million bond issue and 20-cent tax hike to build an upper elementary school failed, 1,317 for to 2,451 against. Two other tax hike measures, 55 cents for salaries and 4 cents for maintenance, were defeated by votes of 1,343 for to 2,422 against and 1,447 for to 2,316 against, respectively.

Aug. 7, 2001 -- 25-cent tax hike defeated, 1,197 for to 1,260 against.

Source: Perry County School District No. 32