TEACHERS FLOCK TO BOARD MEETING; ADMINISTRATION DISCUSSES BUDGET

A large group of Cape Girardeau school employees attended a Board of Education meeting Monday night to express their desire to be involved in planning the 1998-99 school district budget.

Some 200 people -- mainly district teachers and noncertified staff -- attended the meeting to support staff representatives who addressed the board. Employees are concerned that a lack of staff input in addressing budget reductions will result in decisions that negatively impact staff salaries, experience and morale, and the overall quality of education.

"Education is our top priority, and decisions to be made in the next month must consider the effects on the education we provide our children," said Sherry Ford, president of the Community Teacher Association. "We are a family bonding together to take a stand for one another. The possibility of losing a member of our family is unacceptable."

Administrators made a preliminary proposal to the board indicating the need to reduce the next school year's budget by about $1 million to correct past overspending. The district's operating fund balance is expected to dip to about $400,000 by the end of the current fiscal year June 30.

That amount is about $600,000 less than the state's recommended balance level of 10 percent of estimated expenditures.

Superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent detailed the district's troubled financial history and explained administrative proposals for savings in a number of areas. He said the district will experience growth of about $500,000 in local tax money next year due to construction, leaving another $500,000 that must be reduced within the confines of the budget.

Some $215,000 could be saved if the board froze spending at all possible levels, he said. This would include freezing salaries across the board; eliminating incentive grants that required matching funds; reducing a cafeteria plan that administrates staff payroll withholdings; reducing the district's maintenance and repair budget; and reducing local expenditures for textbooks.

"These are areas we feel like we could make happen," said Tallent. "That's all assuming our budget will stay the same, but we would still have about $285,000 left uncovered in deficits."

Tallent presented what he called possible budget reduction considerations to address the remaining amount. A savings amount could not be attached to the largest of those recommendations -- retirement incentives, coupled with increased class sizes and the elimination of a second preparatory period secondary teachers now have -- because the number of staff participating has not been determined.

Savings would occur in those areas because teachers would acquire the class sections as natural attrition occurred when teachers retired or left the district. Class sizes would increase, but the high-end salaries paid to retiring teachers would be eliminated, Tallent said.

Other possible cutback recommendations amounted to savings of as much as $444,000. Reductions in this area included eliminating overload pay for teachers who work during their preparatory periods; eliminating extracurricular pay for teachers who sponsor athletic teams and other clubs; eliminating pay for additional days contracted; reducing by about half administrative travel allocations; and eliminating administrative staff positions, including one assistant superintendent, two assistant principals and a technology coordinator position.

Tallent said most of those recommendations were offered by district employees.

In a prepared statement endorsed by the teachers, CTA salary committee member Neil Casey said "sacrificing teachers" is not the best solution to correct deficit spending. Staff members have done their part in the past to support the school board and mitigate deficit spending, but a proposal that would eliminate staff positions hurts the entire district, he said.

"ACT and MMAT scores that are significantly above state averages, as well as scholarships and monies earned by our graduating seniors, reflect the quality of the educational product we have given our students," said Casey. "Our community must realize that budget balancing proposals that eliminate staff positions are budget balancing proposals that will diminish the quality of our teaching product and the quality of every student's education."

Tallent told the board he would like for members to make some general decisions at the March board meeting so administrators can begin planning the budget. Staff and district patrons are invited to submit recommendations in writing to the board office, and those suggestions would be passed along to the CTA salary committee and board members for consideration, he said.

Board president Dr. Ferrell Ervin said the board's ability to make a decision during the March board meeting would depend on the volume of "worthwhile suggestions" received. Administrators need enough time to prepare the budget, and departing teachers should be given a chance to pursue jobs in other districts, but the primary concern is the academic integrity of Cape Girardeau schools, he said.

"The board had not seen anything before tonight; the teachers had heard more than the board," said Ervin. "The number of worthwhile suggestions may delay the process, but the delay would be good."