Restoring school days, ending teacher layoffs and reducing class size remain top priorities
4J Superintendent Dr. Sheldon Berman has released his preliminary budget, setting in motion the budget process for the 2014–15 school year. With the release, Dr. Berman and the 4J school board reconfirmed their commitment to restore lost school days, end teacher layoffs and avoid increasing class sizes while closing a $3.62 million budget gap.
“Our immediate challenge is to work together to deliver on our shared vision for student success in Eugene, even in the face of ongoing budget shortfalls,” said Dr. Berman. “We’re laying the groundwork for a sustainable budget, one that no longer relies on one-time funding and allows us to increase stability, retain valued programs, and make strategic investments.”
For fiscal year 2014–15, the district’s estimated General Fund revenue is $152.2 million, an increase of $11.1 million over 2013–14. Despite improving economic conditions and increased state funding, the new revenue is not adequate to meet budget requirements, including the restoration of up to nine furlough days, assumed staff salary step increases, the roll-up costs of last year’s salary increases and the elimination of one-time funding.
Closing the gap would require a reduction of 26 teaching positions, but final staffing scenarios depend on upcoming contract negotiations.
“The staffing reductions for the 2014–15 school year are not acceptable, and run counter to our goals of reducing class size and ending teacher layoffs,” said Eugene School Board Chair Mary Walston. “We look forward to finalizing a contract and budget as quickly as possible to provide the certainty our schools need to plan for the next school year.”
The school board recently adopted the following principles to guide board action:
- Maintain or reduce current staffing ratios to avoid increasing class sizes and to reduce class size in our most crowded classrooms.
- Begin to restore lost school days and instructional time. Nine furlough days is too many. Our goal is to significantly reduce furlough days in the 2014–15 budget.
- Maintain preparation time for our elementary teachers, which is a key to improving results for students. We increased prep time for our elementary teachers this year and we want to continue that into the future.
The preliminary budget is the first in a series of steps toward building the final budget. Available revenue could be impacted by updates to state school fund estimates that will be issued by May 15. Wages, benefits and other potential budget issues like furlough days will all be determined through contract negotiations in the months ahead. Until those negotiations are complete, the budget must be based on the terms of current contracts.
The superintendent will present the preliminary budget to the district’s budget committee on April 28. After a series of public meetings, the school board will adopt a final budget on June 18. Key dates include:
April 28 – The superintendent and financial services staff will present the 2014–15 preliminary budget to the budget committee.
May 5 – The budget committee will hold a work session on the budget, and may vote to approve the budget and declare the tax rates and debt service levy.
May 15 – The State of Oregon will issue a final estimate and adjust for 2012–13.
May 19 – If needed, the budget committee will meet to complete work on the 2014–15 budget and vote for approval.
June 4 – The school board will hold a public hearing on the approved budget and consider the adopted budget as an item for future action.
June 18 – The school board will vote to adopt the budget.
Learn more:
- Preliminary proposed budget document
- Presentation to budget committee (slideshow April 28, 2014)
- Chart: Why is there a budget gap?
- Other budget meeting materials (class size information and more)
- Other financial documents
