Less money will result in fewer teachers and larger class sizes in some grades

The Tooele County School District has cut its 2010-11 budget by 8.4 percent to $101 million — a concession to decreased funding at a time when enrollment is once again expected to rise.

The Tooele County School District Board of Directors balanced the new budget by chopping the district’s maintenance and operations fund for the upcoming school year by $7.1 million at its meeting on May 18. That 8.7 percent cut was necessitated by a $2.1 million reduction in funding from the state and the loss of $4.8 million in one-time federal stimulus money the district received last year.

The maintenance and operations budget comprises 74 percent of the district’s total budget for the upcoming year. It pays for the day-to-day operations of the school district including some salaries, instructional materials, administration and utilities. Overall, salaries make up 86 percent of the total district budget, according to Richard Reese, Tooele County School District business administrator.

“Reducing expenses this year will mean a reduction in expenses for salaries,” Reese said.

The district will look to make up the shortfall by reducing its roster of 740 full and part-time teaching positions by 18.5 positions. The reduction will take place through natural attrition — teachers retiring or leaving the district’s employment on their own accord. There will be no lay-offs, according to Terry Linares, Tooele County School District Superintendent.

But the cuts will still be painful.

“These cuts will make a difference in the classroom,” said Ken Luke, Tooele County School District assistant superintendent. “As class size goes up, it makes it more difficult for students to get the individual attention they need.”

Class sizes will rise because of the teaching position reduction as well as an anticipated increase of 333 students for the 2010-11 school year, according to Luke.

“Kindergarten size will stay the same with an average class size of 24, and grades one through three will stay the same at an average size of 26,” Reese said. “Grades four through eight will increase from 26 to 27, and grades nine through 12 will increase from 26 to 28.”

Other staff changes will include the loss of one administrative intern, four full-time substitute teachers, two classified staff, and modifications to the schedule of sweepers, adult cleaners and para-educators.

Secondary schools are looking to reduce some course offerings to get by with fewer teachers, according to Luke.

“Some schools may reduce the number of periods they offer some classes while opting for larger classes,” Luke said. “We have to cover the core-required courses first. Tooele High School is considering dropping advanced placement physics so the teacher can pick up a math class, but that is not a done deal yet.”

The morale of teachers is beginning to suffer, according to Bob Gowans, president of the Tooele Education Association.

“After a couple of years of budget cuts, it seems like the Legislature expects teachers to do more with less,” Gowans said. “Not only money wise, but now with time as our contracted days go down and classroom size goes up.”

Teachers are also still under the gun to meet federal standards such as adequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind, Gowans said.

“Tooele School District is maybe a little better off than others. We will lose 18 teachers by natural attrition this next year,” Gowans said. “Other districts are looking at more drastic cuts in staff.”

Managing growth has been one of the biggest problems for the local district, according to Gowans.

“We have built a lot of new buildings in the last few years to accommodate our growth,” Gowans said. “The way we have funded some of them has taken the wiggle room out of the budget that we could really use now.”

Other funds that make up the total school district budget will also be cut next year. The student activity fund, which includes money spent on activities and programs, will be cut 28 percent. The non K-12 programs, which include adult education and pre-school programs, will be cut 14 percent. And the food service fund will be cut 2 percent, while the debt service fund will be cut 1 percent.

The capital outlay budget, which includes building maintenance, repairs, construction and technology upgrades, as well as new textbook purchases, is being cut 17 percent to $6.6 million.

No large capital improvement projects on existing facilities are scheduled for next year. The district did break ground on the new Grantsville Elementary last week.

The district will use $130,000 for adopting a new math book series for junior high as well as $250,000 for roofing projects and $200,000 for asphalt projects throughout the district.

The capital outlay budget also includes a $425,000 payment for Copper Canyon Elementary, a $1.1 million payment for the Community Learning Center, which is scheduled to open in August, and a $3 million transfer to the maintenance and operations fund.

The district is not planning on increasing fees and is recommending the adoption of the certified tax rate, which is the tax rate approved by the State Tax Commission that will generate the same income from property tax as last year, not including an estimated 3 percent increase from new growth, according to Reese.

The district will hold a final public hearing on the proposed budget on June 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the district office at 92 Lodestone Way in Tooele.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com