Trimming meaT

Let’s talk turkey: There is no more fat to cut from our school budgets.

For years we have watched the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees and principals deal with cut after cut. Sometimes the cuts forced good ideas, like the staggering of bus schedules. Sometimes they forced painful losses, like popular arts programs or language classes. Some great teachers now travel from campus to campus (without added compensation) to teach a language or run the school libraries. The schools now work smarter and harder.

Before I continue, I want to make a distinction between this budget discussion and the bond package currently pending in the May 14 election. To be clear: Voting “yes” will not raise taxes. It will allow the district to use money set aside in a bond fund for needed repairs to buildings. The result will be to remove pressure from the operating funds, which do affect taxes. So if taxes worry you, you definitely want to vote yes on the bond package.

Back to the operating budget.

In early April, the RISD board posted an online survey asking for stakeholders’ input on budget cuts ranging from an estimate of $20 million to possibly $37 million. The estimate is based on bills being floated by the Texas Legislature to make up for the state budget deficit. Final RISD budget decisions will be made in June. (Online survey data already has been compiled, but the board still welcomes feedback; call 469.593.3500 or email to katherine.mckinney@risd.org.)

Clearly, more than one area in RISD could be cut, as some of the proposed program expenses don’t even add up to $1 million (example: field trips, $493,255 annually).

How about administrative expenses? This includes custodial/maintenance/lawn care. If you have ever visited a school, you know how important these services are, and you know a cafeteria needs to be maintained daily. (Not to mention bathrooms.) Why is landscaping important? Whether or not you have kids in school, a poorly maintained landscape would quickly make a neighborhood look run down, and that affects the value of homes.

What about furloughing employees one extra day, saving $952,675? (Again, this is less than $1 million.) Here I want to put in a word for hardworking teachers. In my experience with RISD, our teachers are dedicated professionals who deserve every penny they are paid for their challenging, important work. Remember, their loss is also our loss, because they would be on the job one less day.

I can’t list all the proposals (increasing class-size ratios, cuts to sports programs, fine arts — the usual hard-hit treasures) but each of them strikes at a fundamental service. This is not fat; it is muscle and bone.

PTAs have stepped up in past years with countless volunteer hours, providing an unpaid work force upon which schools have become dependent. It’s not realistic to expect PTA fundraisers and volunteers to make up for an unnecessary round of painful budget cuts.

Consider bus transportation for magnet school programs: annual expense, $280,956. The magnet schools provide stellar programs both for neighborhood kids and the volunteers who choose to attend. Here in Lake Highlands we have a great high school, but if a kid wants to take Latin or German, he or she can get those subjects at Richardson High School, along with a choice of magnets including science, law, theater, culinary arts and more. Bus transportation is an added incentive for parents to make the decision to send their child to a magnet school.

Why do I say unnecessary? The Texas Legislature has the option of tapping the rainy day fund. Also, during a crisis, the district can review tax opportunities. By eliminating the optional homestead exemption (most Dallas-Fort Worth districts have already done so), they could raise $5 million. While this may hurt, it would be a lot more effective than poundfoolish solutions like targeting bus service or teachers’ workdays.

If crisis is also opportunity, we must be open to innovative solutions. What about the possibility of a temporary tax assessment? This would require an election — but I believe it would have a chance of passing. Heck, call it the 2011-2012 budget prop. We all recognize the importance of good investments. There is no greater investment in the future of Lake Highlands than in maintaining the excellence of RISD.