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Final Budget Set by Board of Trustees
Reno, NV (June 30, 2011) - The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees on June 30 approved an amended final budget for fiscal year 2011-2012, which includes $50.6 million in budget reductions and cost-savings measures. The final budget also reflects potential concessions with employee associations that the District is seeking through ongoing negotiations.
"When we brought a budget to the Board for approval back in May, we knew we would have to amend that budget because the 2011 Legislature was still in session and numerous questions remained about K-12 funding. We now have a clearer picture of our budget situation and this amended budget reflects those numbers," Superintendent Dr. Heath Morrison said. "While we are relieved the amount of needed reductions has gone from the level we expected in January to the level the Board passed today, these cuts follow several other years of budget reductions."
WCSD estimated in January that it would be facing a $75 million shortfall for each of the next two fiscal years due to loss of local, state and federal funding. The estimated shortfall was adjusted at the beginning of June when state legislators and Governor Brian Sandoval announced a budget agreement, which included a renewal of the sunsetting taxes and additional funding for K-12 education.
To offset the $50.6 million shortfall in the District's final amended budget, the Board approved several steps that were originally recommended by the superintendent in April including maintaining an increase in class size for grades 1-3 by two students, deferring textbook purchases for another year, using savings from healthcare negotiations and using funds from the contingency and fund balance accounts. The budget also contains more than $5.5 million in reductions to Central and Direct School Support Services. These reductions total approximately $33.6 million and the loss of approximately 200 positions.
The final amended budget also includes savings of approximately $1.7 million from the early separation incentive program and the special early separation incentive program. Additional cost-savings measures include using money from one-time federal funding and instituting a second health insurance premium holiday, which would save additional money from healthcare negotiations.
Morrison explained that the District's strategic plan, Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In Our Future, and the many conversations with parents, school district employees and other community members helped to craft the final budget. "We've said since the beginning of this process that we would stay true to our goals set forth in the strategic plan and we have used that to guide our conversations about the budget. We were extremely proactive in gathering public input. We held five townhall meetings across the District in May and launched one of our most aggressive outreach efforts with our budget survey, which garnered more than three thousand responses," Morrison said. "We've used that input and our strategic plan to make the recommendations that ultimately created this budget."
The final amended budget includes an unresolved shortfall of approximately $10.5 million. The District is currently negotiating with its five employee associations. Any unresolved shortfall after those negotiations conclude could still mean potential additional reductions to programs or possible increases to class size.
During the budget meeting this afternoon, members of the Board of Trustees discussed the many difficult decisions involved in balancing the budget. "These are very painful decisions that are going to have a direct impact on our children. We know that increasing class size in the early grades will affect the classroom environment of our youngest learners and the reductions to the services that directly support our schools will also be noticeable. The budget cuts will be felt districtwide as we move forward with our reform efforts, but we are determined to continue down that pathway to ensure that we get 'every child, by name and face, to graduation,' " said Board President Barbara McLaury.
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About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, Empire and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 63,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready. For more information visit www.washoecountyschools.org. Follow us on Twitter at WCSDTweet.
Washoe County School District
425 East Ninth Street
Reno, NV 89520
