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SPECIAL EDITION
8701 Pacific St. Omaha, NE 68114 Volume 60 Issue 6.5
March 11, 2016
THE DEAL ON THE BUDGET CUTS
Westside Journalism talks you through the proposed changes MA DI GA N B R O D S K Y
LANCE PRODUCTION EDITOR You’ve heard people in the hallways talk. $5.4 million. Maybe one friend actually read the proposals, but for the most part, word is spread like your average high school drama — bits and pieces at a time. Nobody’s quite sure of the details, and most assuredly, nobody knows how it ended up this way. $5.4 million. With that amount of money at stake, it would be easy to assign the blame to one event, one decision, one person. So easy, in fact, that there has been little opportunity to fully understand what’s threatening eighteen full-time employee positions. $5.4 million. And if you think about it, there’s really no way there could be a single catalyst to create a deficit
this large in a district as respected as Westside. So how could something like this happen? This budget issue isn’t the result of some monolithic policy change, district financial failure or whatever else you think you might have heard in the past week. Instead, it’s rooted in intricate legislative decisions and state aid regulations established years ago that are just now catching up with us. Besides the district’s chief financial officers and the school board themselves, this predicament is complicated for anyone to wrap their head around - and it’s not exclusive just to Westside. Other districts, like Millard and Ralston, have been and are currently facing similar budget shortfalls. According to Superintendent Blane McCann, “The District has two main sources of revenue — property taxes and state aid, ” and while it sounds simple, you can’t fully understand the cause of this problem without taking a look a few years back in time.
In 2010, the Nebraska State Legislature established the Learning Community, which consists of eleven public school districts in Douglas and Sarpy County — including Westside. Before the creation of the Learning Community, Westside operated with a process known as “option enrollment” when it came to admitting those who lived outside of the district For every “option enrollment” student that was admitted to Westside, state aid was granted to the district based upon the “state average expense per student.” However, under the regulation of the Learning Community, admitting students from outside of the district is now known as “open” instead of “option” enrollment. Essentially the exact same thing, these two plans have only one difference besides name. Westside receives $1100 less in state funding per student under the “open enrollment” plan, compared to the previous “option
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Left: School Board President Scott Hazelrigg listens to concerns of community members at the school board meeting Monday, March 7. Right: Junior Nyca Gaskill sheds tears at the school board meeting on Monday. Photos by Kirsten McCormack
one music tea
$65,00 SPECIAL EDITION 0
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$6 tion a n i m i El WHS e n o of from Community districts based on pre-determined rarianteachers and administrators needs. This redistribution of wealth is all part ofLib on budget reductions.
While there are many factors that determine the needs of each district, the largest is known as basic funding, which can be represented as a simple equation. BASIC District = FUNDING Enrollment
x
Avg. expense per student in peer group
PEER GROUP = 10 districts larger in enrollment + 10 districts lower in enrollment In the Learning Community, no two districts have the same multipliers, as each district’s peer group is completely unique. Unfortunately, out of all 245 districts in the state, Westside happens to have the lowest multiplier, therefore reducing the amount of state aid that the district receives. When the Learning Community was established, they also changed the way in which property taxes are collected. Before 2010, anyone who lived in the Westside district paid the entirety of their property taxes directly to Westside. Now, instead of staying within district boundaries, every person who lives in the Learning Community (Douglas and Sarpy County) contributes 95 cents of their property tax into a “common pool,” which is once again distributed among the Learning
Using a method called Tregoe, Westside is y alar s able to rank buds t n efi No 8% get alternatives, or 1 Ben % 22 cuts, “based on an agreed upon set of objectives, ranked in order of impor“While the Westside Community tance.” At the top ries of the objective list Sala % Schools has always tried to operate were the goals to min59 n under a balanced budget, the District imize impact ontatsafeo i or and nsp has reached a point where it’s expens- ty, core academics, Tra 22% hiring and retention of high es are exceeding its revenues.” quality teachers. Then, through a ies er Yes, it sounds like the cause of any type of fiscal Othpoint tilit system, each U proposed budget cuts % 12% shortage, but in this situation, it really is the sim- 30 is ranked. If a proposed cut doesn’t implest way to put it. pact a certain objective, it gets more Other In order to uphold the District’s vision to “re- points than a cut that would impact a 30% lentlessly pursue innovative educational ideals,” certain objective. upplies S s ir they’ve been spending roughly $1,000 more per epa“You 16% one of those go through each R nt one of the objectives,” student than other districts in the metro — on all items 8% and every e iptm of the things that make Westside so appealing and Zagozda Equ explains. “Add them all up, Repairs 12% 8% respectable. Technology, modular scheduling, rel- multiply them out, add them all up atively small classes and neighborhood schools again and based on their scores, you get Equiptment 12% all help Westside produce as many well-educated a ranked list of, based on your objectives, graduates as possible, while still maintaining an of [what] would have the least impact to the influx of new students. district.” The District is doing everything that they can Essentially, the cuts with the higher scores are to keep Westside as successful of a district as pos- the ones that, like Zagozda said, “would have the sible, but are now having to do this with less mon- least impact to the District.” ey than they’re used to spending. After looking at this ranked list, certain proIt’s also important to realize that a budget gap posed cuts that are likely to create resistance from isn’t some new phenomenon for Westside, or any parents and staff are removed, or as Zagozda says, other district for that matter. “because they just generate too much controversy “[Last year] we reduced by 3.5 million, [this for what the worth is.” year] we proposed another 4 million dollars .... However, after reviewing the budget this time that’s 7.5 million dollars over two years,” McCann around, potential cuts are seemingly more drasaid. matic as they are threatening full-time employee While the district had been drawing from cash positions - one of the only times this has ever hapreserves for the past several years, it would be un- pened in Westside’s history. derstandably unhealthy to continue to draw from “We must maintain a sound financial footing,” these when trying to make up for this 7.5 million. McCann said. “We must practice fiscal discipline Robert Zagozda, the district’s chief financial offi- in the face of uncertain public school funding. cer, ensures that the district has done everything When making budget decisions, we must carefully in their power to try and keep cuts away from consider long-term sustainability and be certain harming educational processes directly. While that any additions support the work we do for stuprograms and procedures may be changed due to dents.” cuts, the elimination of them completely will alAt the end of the day, the situation is compliways be a last resort. cated and it affects nearly all corners of the dis“Last year, we cut a couple million dollars in trict. From an outside perspective, this cause may non-salary items to try to keep things as far away seem hopeless or even lost, but McCann is confifrom the classroom as [much] we possibly can,” dent that we are going to get through it. Zagozda said. “We’re gonna continue to work through this, Due to property tax rates, the district receives and figure out how we come out on the other side information on the amount of state aid they will of it.” McCann said. “The good news is we don’t be getting around February, and property tax val- have to do it alone. We have community that will uations are received in late August. Because of this help, we have people like you that will help, in time limit, the process of reviewing the budget and terms of what you believe and come up with good evaluations of potential reductions happens in Oc- ideas. So, I’m looking forward to the next few tober, giving just enough time to get suggestions years, frankly.”
nt t m meen% e e r i r i t t nitss1 1% eRetio ElimRina efefit n e e of onBe BWHnS $65,00
Librarian
Westside Library
LC Resources - LC Needs = STATE AID
the Learning Community’s plan, as according to their website, “[open enrollment] is meant to improve academic achievement for disadvantaged students, [with a goal] to increase socioeconomic diversity in Learning Community schools.” Everything that has helped create this deficit is interconnected, and while it seems complicated, the bottom line, according to McCann, is this:
ary Libr
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enrollment” plan. Whereas 10 students under the “option enrollment” plan would provide the district with $11,000 in state aid, the next group of 10 students under the “open enrollment” plan would provide the district with significantly less. So, let’s pretend that it’s 2005, and a family with three children who live in Dundee are being admitted to Westside under the “option enrollment” procedure. Five years later, the Learning Community is established, changing this policy in the way that was described above. So, as each child from this family graduates, they are replaced by an “open enrollment” student, bringing in less state aid money with them, and therefore decreasing the overall amount of state aid that Westside receives. It’s also important to realize that state aid isn’t solely determined by “open enrollment” numbers — it is also influenced by the “relative percentage of needs for each district,” according to the District’s Feb. 2016 Budget Report. Surprisingly, figuring out this aspect of state aid for Learning Community districts is relatively simple — both the resources and the needs of the 11 Learning Community districts are calculated, determining that the difference between the two is what the state needs to provide in aid. The state awards the difference in the sums of what all districts have and what all districts need. This is total aid money, which is then distributed among all Learning Community districts “based on the relative percentage of needs for each district.”
e tsid Wes
BUDGET: Everything you ever did and did not want to know
io inat Elim and drug ou c
Benef 22%
Transportation 22%
Utilities 12%
Supplies 16%
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SPECIAL EDITION
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BUDGET CUT PROPOSALS { } Proposals that have generated the most feedback in the community have been highlighted in this section
Proposal 10: Eliminate a library position at WHS
by Jim
MONICA S I E G E L
WIRED STAFF WRITER
Within the proposed budget is the suggestion of eliminating student workers at the high school. Student workers are students who help out teachers in the science department, engineering and technology department and the main office. “I’d have to shut down 13 and 14th mod, lock the doors and be unable to help students until the next morning,” chemistry instructor Michael Fauss said. “I’m here all day as it is, and there’s just not enough time in the day.” The school board is looking at several different options to help a $4 million reduction. Superintendent Blane McCann brought the idea of cutting student workers forward, along with many other proposals. Elimination of Senior Sujata Sapkota has been a student worker for physics for two rs years. She gets paid $7.25/hour and helps set up labs, grade papers rke wo nt de stu and assist teachers. “Doing this has helped me a lot because whenever you apply for a job they look for work experience,” Sapkota said. “If you
$10,000
can’t work outside of school this is a great experience because they’re very flexible.” Chemistry instructor Michael Fauss also agrees that student workers are very beneficial for both the teacher and the student. “Allowing students to do this helps gives them real life applications and it teaches them responsibility,” Fauss said. “It also helps teachers because there’s not enough time in the day to put down and set up labs.” However, if student workers were cut from the budget, it is estimated that the school would save $10,000. The board believes that although cutting student workers would impact the school at a certain level, other staff members could fill their jobs. Assistant Superintendent Enid Schonewise believes that recommendations will hopefully be made by the end of March. If this is cut from the budget, it will be effective starting this summer. “We are going to have to make several cuts no matter what,” Dr. Schonewise said. “If we don’t cut one thing then we will have to cut something else.”
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Proposal 23: Elimination of students workers
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much for us,” Bekins said. “She is not just my homeroom teacher, but more of a second mom for me. She will do whatever it takes to make all of her homeroom students feel comfortable and loved.” Westside High School library administrative assistant Laura Girmus says that she has similar feelings. “ I think that it is beneficial for the education of the students at Westside High School that we have two librarians here, not just one,” Girmus said. If the budget cut is put into action, Turner will lose her job and be leaving Westside High School at the end of the year.
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With the new budget cuts, District 66 proposed the option of eliminating one library position at Westside High School. The district meets Nebraska’s Rule 10 (the 10 regulations and procedures for the credibility of schools) with a single librarian at Westside High School. It is not uncommon for metro high schools similar in size to Westside to operate with a single librarian. Other personnel would be appointed to provide support to library services. This cut would save Westside $65,000. Assistant Superintendent Mark Weichel shared his thoughts on this budget cut. “A lot of high schools will generally have one librarian, and while it is awesome to have two, it is one of those things that will help save the district [money],” Weichel said. “When you look at the school laws and regulations, you only have to have at least one librarian. It is not required to have two, and you can do the program that you have been doing with one person.” Although this cut would save Westside thousands of dollars, the decision would cause Carrie
Turner to lose her full-time job as librarian at the high school next year. “I have really put my heart and soul into this school, and if I have not proven to Westside High School by now what I am worth in this position, then there is nothing that I can say,” Turner said. Turner feels that she is a vital piece of the puzzle for Westside and has supported many students in her position as librarian at the high school. “The one thing that people don’t understand is that they grew up with the librarian that sat behind the desk all day, and we are not that anymore,” Turner said. “With all of the information out there that is available for kids, it is vital to use your word to teach them how to find the information that is good, credible, authentic and current so they become better consumers of information when they are older, and that is what we were doing.” Turner’s homeroom students have taken the possible change next year hard. Libby Bekins, a homeroom student of Turner, feels strongly about the budget cut possibility for her homeroom teacher. “She is a really good person, and if she leaves it would not just cause devastation to my homeroom, but to the entire school body because she does so
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DA N I B A R T O N
WIRED STAFF WRITER
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$65,0
Far left: Band students hold a sign to protest the proposal of the elimination of a band instructor in the district. Right: UNO Director of Jazz Music Dr. Pete Madsen expresses his concern on the proposal at the board meeting Monday, March 7. Photo by Kirsten McCormack
Proposal 4: Eliminate one instrumental music teacher ERIN K R U G E R
CRAZE STAFF MEMBER Beginning last week, Westside’s instrumental music department was in a dilemma when the district’s Board of Education released a proposed plan of budget cuts for the 2016-17 school year. It was proposed that Westside could save $65,000 if Westside Community Schools were to cut one of seven instrumental music positions within the district. This is due to the drop in enrollment in Westside’s instrumental music classes. The thoughts of the Board are that if class sizes are decreasing, the number of instrumental music teachers in the district is too many. Currently, there are two high school band directors, one middle school band director, two elementary-level band instructors, and two strings and orchestra instructors in the whole district. However, the most talked-about positions to be cut are the assistant high school band director position or one of the elementary school positions. There has been a lot of responses to the budget plan proposal by students, instructors, parents, supporters, alumni and friends of the instrumental music programs. Many students and alumni are going to social media, like Twitter, to express their thoughts and opinions on the issue. Parents and supporters have been expressing their thoughts at board and band meetings, and through email. “The result [of cutting a music teacher] will be larger class sizes, and increased work load for caring music teachers who are already stretched to their limit doing the best for our kids,” said Dr. Pete Madsen, father of two students in Westside’s band program, sophomore Christian Madsen and eighth grader Ashleigh Madsen. “I implore [band stu-
dents] to speak out in support of instrumental music in the Westside School District.” Madsen is an active supporter of the Westside High School Band, and has been the Director of Jazz Music at the University of Nebraska Omaha for 16 years. Several Westside High School band parents are encouraging their students to attend board meetings and express their support of the instrumental music program. Besides Westside’s instrumental music parents, the music teachers have been speaking out in support, too. “If we want a top quality instrumental music program, reducing the staff won’t help with the students’ learning,” elementary-level band instructor Mike Freeman said. “Do the people of Westside really believe that cutting a historically successful music program is going to help the students and the school?” While these opinions have been voiced by Westside’s instrumental music community, the district has to make difficult decisions when it comes to the district’s annual budget, whether or not they want to make them. If enrollment in band drops, it may seem logical to cut a teacher because there are less students? Well, over 80 percent of the district’s budget is based on salaries and benefits of instructors, and most of Westside’s budget cuts in the past have been non-salary based, according to Superintendent Blane McCann in the Westside Community Schools Budget Report. For example, earlier in 2016, the district switched healthcare providers to save some money for teacher salaries. But, now we are in dire times and we have to save money. “With our current budget reductions, especially those involving staff, we are committed to retaining our employees and managing reductions through attribution,” McCann said. “It’s never easy to make budget reductions, especially when these decisions impact staff.”
SPECIAL EDITION
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Proposal 11 and 12: Special Education staff Proposal 18: ReKATE ALSTON duction of substitute costs SHIELD CLUBS AND ACADEMICS SECTION EDITOR
The Special Education proposed budget cut suggests the reduction of a Special Education certified staff member as well as a Special Education Educational Assistant. If these positions were eliminated there would be a projected reduction of $190,000 in school spending. According to Special Education instructor Michael Jernigan, the special education department had already been having discussions on how to deal with a fluctuating amount of special education students entering the high school level as they filter through the lower elementary and middle schools. “Right now, I don’t think we can afford to lose anybody,” Jernigan said. “I’m hoping our master plan is able to work out to where we can the get people from other positions that want to be up here at the high school to come up and help us out [if the proposal is enacted].” Larger class sizes in the special education program will
make the numerical ratio between teachers and students less balanced, which makes it harder for teachers and students to form close relationships. According to Jernigan this is a vital part of being successful while working with his Special Education students. “Relationships are huge — especially in our position,” Jernigan said. “We work with students that struggle a lot in the school, so being able to help them you have to have a relationship with them in some way shape or form. With large numbers you don’t have the opportunities to build relationships with all the kids.” According to School Board President Scott Hazelrigg, the board will have to be conscious of grants and money the program receives from the state government as it may affect the amount of money that could be cut from the state program. “We may not choose to cut a position that is partially funded through federal dollars because it just wouldn’t save us that much money, and we want to continue to provide those services to those students that need them,” Hazelrigg said.
SA M C O H E N
LANCE STAFF WRITER
Since its announcement, Westside High School’s proposed substitute policy has caused some concern within the student body as well as with teachers. The proposed policy states that juniors and seniors would follow a lesson plan independently in the event their teacher is gone that day. Understandably, teachers are worried that students may not complete the work if they are unsupervised. Teachers like Eric Sayre, honors American Literature Team Leader, are worried that some students may not be able to complete the work on their own, and that there may not be enough information about the policy right now trouble-shooting, repairing and maintaining many behind-theDE LA N E Y S C H U T T L E R SHIELD STAFF WRITER scenes systems. I think most people would be astonished to before it’s put into place. “It’s hard to know how it might play out, for learn about all the behind-the-scenes things that are actually me the jury’s out, there are so many unanswered In the day-to-day hustle and bustle of our busy high school taken care of by the custodial staff.” lives, custodians vital role in the school often seems to go unnoSchool board president Scott Hazelrigg realizes the difficulty questions. There’s part of me that’s very skeptical ticed by most. Included in the proposed budget cuts is the ter- of cutting positions that play a key role in the day-to-day school that this will work.” Sayre said. He is also concerned that his students will miss mination of two custodial positions, one full time and one part environment. Although Hazelrigg knows the toughness of the time. With the news of the proposed budget cuts, the reactions matter, he believes good things can come out of these budget out on the experience while working with a teacher. have been very mixed. cuts. “I do think we have some really wonderful subs Building operations manager Rick Avard knows the difficul“If we make tough decisions to stop doing something, it’s ty and negative impact going through budget cuts can cause. because we saw other things that were more important for here that have a great relationship with students. “You know anytime you go through budget cuts it’s negative. us to do, to really impact the education that our students are It would maybe not be the same experience if kids But if you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money,” getting,” Hazelrigg said. “That doesn’t mean it’s fun, and that were just reporting to an IMC, so I would be a little Avard said. “[The budget cuts] suck, they do.” doesn’t mean we want to do it everyday, but what is important bit saddened by that.” Sayre said. He also says that the subs have a certain way of Avard is well aware of how difficult this decision is, as he to us as Westside, that we will make thoughtful decisions that understands how important a custodian is to a school. will help us be better in the future. So at the end of the day, do connecting with their part time students. “I think it’s really nice for [students] to get “I believe janitors are very important in all schools,” Avard I think the district will be better coming through this process those other experiences, almost all of our subs are said. “They keep the buildings clean and running smoothly, then we are today? And the answer is, yeah we will.” former teachers, they have a great rapport with all of our kids.” Sayre said. Most of all, he’s concerned about the sheer After a review of modular scheduling and teacher caseloads, number of students that would be in the IMCs as Westside determined that there were differing numbers of a result. According to Sayre, there could be up to students assigned to each teacher. With greater efficiency, the 200 more students in the halls. number can be evened out, by reducing the certified staff at District 66’s one-to-one learning initiative has improved learn- the high school by 1.0 full time employee. The fiscal impact is “Our IMCs are already pretty full most mods, ing for students in the district. The district’s lease with Apple $65,000 saved. so where are those kids going to go? That’s my big for this program is currently in year two of a four-year lease. question that I haven’t really heard answered yet. The proposal recommends 875,000 of LIF funds used to pay Is there going to be an overflow space, or a dedian $875,000 portion of the yearly $1,300,000 lease payment. The recommendation is to reduce the number of support staff cated room? If so, who’s going to supervise that?” The fiscal impact is $875,000. hours at WHS by about 12 hours a day. How? The impact of Sayre said. this option would be less assistance for both staff and stuSome students are also concerned that their dents. Although if efficiency is improved the district hopes classmates may ignore the assignments altogethto minimalize the effect. The fiscal impact being is $30,000 er. Sophomore Miya Leonard thinks that only moOne aspect of the district budget cuts is the elimination of a saved. tivated students will follow through. Middle School Dean position. A middle school dean helps to “I think that it’s not a bad idea, but I think it handle behavioral incidents and issues within Westside Midwill only work for some students. Maybe they dle School. Cutting this position would save the district salary It is normal that when experienced teachers retire new teachers should do that with people in honors classes, beand benefit costs amounting to around $65,000. Although the will be brought in and will be paid a smaller salary. Even though cause they’re tend to be more self motivated than elimination of this position would save money, there would people in regular classes,” Leonard said. “I’m for it the schools lose the expertise, the process is natural, as new be one less adult to provide discipline and improve the social personally, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I’d just be people must fill the open positions. The fiscal impact is still to skills of students. worried for other people.” Leonard said. be determined for this proposition.
Proposal 14: Eliminate two custodians
OTHER PROPOSALS:
Proposal 8
Proposal 1
Proposal 9
Proposal 6
Proposal 15
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SPECIAL EDITION Eliminatation of Lighthouse Project
$75,000
Proposal 13: Eliminate drugs and alcohol counselor L IBBY S E L I N E
LANCE MANAGING EDITOR
OLI V I A W A S H B U R N
WIRED STAFF WRITER The new budget cut proposal for the 2016-2017 school year involves the elimination of the Lighthouse Project completed by Westside’s senior class prior to graduation. The Lighthouse Project is designed to teach Westside seniors to become independent learners and prepare them for college. If the district ends up making this cut, it is estimated to save them $75,000. English instructor and Lighthouse Project advisor Molly Spisak shed some “light” on the drawbacks and benefits of the possible cut. “I think it’s really important [for students] to learn not only how to do research effectively, ethically and responsibly, but also to figure out how to manage big deadlines, how they manage big projects, how they learn,” Spisak said. “The goal of the class is to create this understanding of what kind of student you are and how to take that information as you go to college. I don’t think that any other classes hit that component.” However, it’s the English Department’s responsibility to provide 40 percent of the instructors for the Lighthouse Project. Of the five instructors overseeing this curriculum, two are also English teachers. This means, in addition to responsibilities of the Lighthouse Project, they have a course load of anywhere from 135 to 155 students in their everyday English classes. Spisak said that “getting about a half of a full-time employee back into our department would be extremely helpful to the department’s numbers and would alleviate some of the pressure and stress that the department is feeling.” Even with the potential benefits, Spisak believes the project offers opportunities that outweigh the drawbacks. “With our team, we revamped a lot of what is going on with senior project and put a lot of ourselves into it,” Spisak said. “It’s very personal in the fact that we feel like we have created the course to be as good as it can possibly be.”
Elimination of one drug and alcohol counselor
Rx
Proposal 24: Elimination of Lighthouse Project
The elimination of the chemical dependency counselor at the high school would save the school approximately $58,000. According to the budget proposal, this position is not needed at the high school and can be replaced with Westside’s student assistance program partner, Arbor Family Counseling. This organization would be able to help students suffering from addiction and help those who are taking drugs. Current Chemical Dependency Counselor Susan Schlegel feels that her position is special and is concerned that Westside is contemplating getting rid of it.
“[Chemical dependency counselor] was a role that set Westside apart from other schools,” Schlegel said. “[By having a chemical dependency counselor] Westside’s being proactive. They’re the ones that want to be one step ahead of it because then we’d get people in treatment a lot faster.” Schlegel is also upset to see that her position is under consideration of being cut because of the relationships she has with her students. “Having someone in the school that looked at the personality of someone with addiction is really to have someone to build that relationship with and then get them moving forward,” Schlegel said. However, Schlegel understands that the decision rests in the board’s hands and will accept their final decision whatever it may be.
Proposal 4: Substitute elementary foreign language program with online learning alternative
get and have to look for ways to bridge the gap in the deficit,” WIRED STAFF WRITERS Olvera said. “However I don’t agree with looking at elementary spanish for this deficit to be met. I believe we should be more The elimination of foreign language instructors in elemen- creative and look at other things.” tary schools is a proposed topic amongst the budget cuts. The If the proposal is passed, all elementary students will be using instructor position is to be replaced with interactive language the popular language learning software Rosetta Stone or a simsoftware. David Stiles, father of two children at Rockbrook ele- ilar program. mentary, shares his opinion. The idea that technology can replace teachers was a widely “It is never good when a cut is made, regardless the depart- debated topic at the school board meeting held Monday, March ment,” Stiles said. “Replacing a teacher with a program purchase 7. This meeting was used to better inform the Westside Commuwill never offer our kids the same experience as learning from a nity on what the “cuts” actually mean. person.” Olvera and former Westside Spanish instructor Barbara Irvin Elimination of elementary Westside High School span- attended the meeting on Monday, both opposing the proposal. Spanish teachers ish instructor Maria Olvera also “Will Rosetta Stone tell what it’s like to… live with a family in opposes the replacement of Spain or travel to Costa Rica?” Irvin said. “No, it does not… Will teachers with technology. Rosetta Stone lead a whole class to a discussion about Spanish “I fully understand that culture? Probably not with Rosetta Stone, but it happened all the we have a deficit in the bud- time in my classroom.”
SIENA G A I L L O U X , OL IVIA W A S H B U R N
$325,000
OTHER PROPOSALS (cont.): Proposal 16 Summer school is covered by federal funds, but the District’s elementary school age summer enrichment program is not. The purpose of this is to provide enrichment for 300350 students each summer. The removal of this would not affect the regular academics for the age group. A number of other programs are available for students in the community aside from the summer program. The fiscal impact is $110,000 saved.
Proposal 17
In order to prepare for the retirement of a business department individual, the department plans to restructure. The end goal being that the same amount of duties assigned. There is no educational impact from this recommendation and the fiscal impact is $72,000 saved.
Proposal 20 Westside currently pays the Visiting Nurse Association $47.75 per hour for elementary school nurse services. Children’s Hospital is paid $28 per hour for the secondary schools. The proposal recommends allowing the contract with VNA to run out at the end of the school year, and replace it with a similar contract with Children’s. The benefit would be that all nursing services in the district would be under $30 an hour. The fiscal impact is $13,000 saved.
Proposal 21 A responsibility of educational assistants at elementary schools is two hours a day of breakfast and lunch duties. They also manage student lunch funds and meal counts. The time is generalized under the normal fund and the recommendation is to charge it to Fund 02. There would be no effect on payment as it would just be changing the location of expense charged. There is no educational impact for this proposal. The fiscal impact is $49,000 saved.
SPECIAL EDITION
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Proposal 25/26: Transportation cost reductions CEL ENA S H E P H E R D
LANCE MANAGING EDITOR A budget impact recommendation proposed outlines a plan to extend the distance required for district residents to qualify for “district paid transportation” to two miles. The fiscal impact of this would be $390,750, reducing the number of internal routes from 17 to eight. The district currently pays to transport elementary students who live one mile or more from their school, or would otherwise have to cross a major road. They also pay to transport a small handful of Westside Middle School students who live north of Dodge and west of I-680, but the district does not pay to transport Westside High School students. Chief Bus Service provides transportation for high school and middles school students who live in the school district, but it is not free. A two-way pass to ride the bus to the high school for one student costs $63.50 per month. This money is paid directly to Chief Bus Service not Westside. This means that the possible transportation extension will not affect the students relying on transportation provided by Chief Bus Service at the high school and middle school. The district has suggested reducing the transportation at elementary and middle school . The state of Nebraska mandates that if a student lives four miles from their school, transportation must be provided by the district, but not necessarily paid for by the district. If Westside enacts this proposal the distance requirement will stand somewhere in the middle of the other metro area schools. If the recommendation gets accepted it would essentially eliminate most district provided transportation. There are 199 elementary students total who use the free transportation, according to Student Services Coordinator Alan Bone. Swanson elementary has 90 students who use the district transportation, which is the most out of any elementary. Barbara Wimmer, a parent of a sixth grader at Swanson who rides the bus thinks the district provided transportation has been a great benefit to her family. “I was very sad to hear that [transportation] would possibly be removed from our district,” Wimmer said. “[Transportation] has been a tremendous help to families and I think there will be a large impact. There are going to be more opportunities for [us] to
come together as a community.” After the extension of the distance the only elementary school that would have district paid transportation would be Westgate Elementary. This is because Westgate is a Title 1 school, which means by a government standard they reach a certain amount of free and reduced lunch students who need transportation, which requires the district to provide it for them. The budget recommendation says “The District would continue to transport Westgate resident students who live north of Center Street” because according to Bone the students would have to walk near Center Street, a very busy main road hence the need for transportation due to safety reasons. The situation is similar for a small group of middle school students, who live west of I-680 and north of Dodge Street. These students would also receive transportation paid by the district if the recommendation goes through. A second transportation proposal made will affect open-enrollment students in the District at the elementary, middle and high school level. Open-enrollment students are students who do not live in the Westside District, but have opted into the district through the Learning Community. All of these students are eligible to receive district paid transportation. The budget proposal recommended replacing all nine-passenger vans with higher capacity buses to reduce transportation costs, by $353,700 according to the report. Junior Phoebe Yueill uses the Learning Community transportation regularly and thinks it will be hard getting used to this change if the proposal is enacted. “I’ve had the same driver since freshman year, so I might have a different one now,” Yueill said. “There will probably be more stops, so it will take longer to get [to school]. I just think it would a lot different, I don’t know if it’d be bad.” The recommendation would reduce the number of external routes from 31 to 19. The district said that the amount of time it takes for the open-enrollment students to get to school would be well within district guidelines. The district recently began using BusBoss, a software which pinpoints the quickest most efficient routes for buses to take. “We’re able according to our software to keep the amount of time any student will ride the bus under 60 minutes,” Bone said. Implementing both of these proposals would reduce the cost of transportation by $744,450, according to the budget report.
OTHER PROPOSALS (CONT.) Proposal 22 ...states that it is being recommended that sixth-graders who qualify for pre-algebra will stay at their elementary school rather than going to Westside Middle. The plan is to have the students receive lessons on their iPads and meet with the teacher face-to-face once a week, and the fiscal impact is proposed to be $23,000.
Proposal 27 ...is proposing that the K-6 science program push back the selection of new materials by one year, 2017-2018. The choice to delay this is due to the social studies and language programs receiving new materials recently, as well science standards still being under revision. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $350,000.
Proposal 28
Proposal 31
...is a recommendation to cut expenses of all non-salary items such like equipment, conference costs, and similar costs. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $140,00
...is a recommendation to discontinue the design, printing, and mailing, of the annual activity calendar. The District would instead move to a mobile-based website where parents can receive information that would normally be on the calendar. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $23,000
Proposal 29
Proposal 32
...recommends discontinuing the principal coach program. This program funded recently retired principals to help coach new principals in the district, for past years, though the District now believes this is no longer needed, as new principals have enough experience. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $15,000.
... is the recommendation to eliminate the printing and mailing of the Westside alumni association newsletter. Similar to the activity calendar, they are recommended to move to an e-newsletter. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $15,000.
Proposal 30
... is recommending the limited printing and mailing of summer projects in Westside Middle and Westside High School. Similarly to 31 and 32 on the report, this would instead be sent out electronically. The fiscal impact is
...proposes that the budget of Oakdale is reduced by $55,000, the historical cost of utilities for the building. The fiscal impact is proposed to be $55,000.
Proposal 33
proposed to be $14,000.
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FAQ
SPECIAL EDITION
: Frequently Asked Questions Questions and answers taken from the document released on the district website.
Q: Why do you need to make budget cuts this year? A:
The District has reached a point where its expenses are exceeding its revenues. To cover that gap, the District has drawn from its cash reserves each year for the past several years – an average of $4.1 million within the past two years. The District cannot continue to draw down reserves, any more than a family can continuously draw from its household savings account.
Q: Why are you cutting your budget when voters just
Q: What will happen to employees whose positions are
A:
The District’s general fund and the bond fund are two separate pots of money. Bond funds cannot be used to fund District operations. The District proposed – and voters approved – the bond issue in order to update its aging K-8 buildings to meet modern standards for safety and security.
school program. How will that impact our students?
A:
Q: How did you determine what programs or posiA:
tions to consider eliminating?
District administration used a rigorous business decision-making model to establish and rank educational priorities. The District also conducted meetings with administrators, building principals, teachers and other staff, looking for input on budget efficiencies. The District specifically looked for the programs and positions that would have the least impact on classroom instruction. It also sought to maintain the programs that set Westside apart, including neighborhood schools, small class sizes, modular scheduling at the high school and a K-12 one- to-one technology initiative. This programming is part of the excellence that the community expects from District schools.
We will do all we can to keep all of our current employees. We hope to handle any reductions through attrition. Depending on their expertise and their endorsements, employees may be offered other positions within the District.
Q: You’re proposing to cut the District’s summer
approved a $79.9 million bond issue?
A:
eliminated?
The Title I summer school program for students who need remediation is funded by the federal government and would remain in place. The District’s K-6 summer school program exists primarily to provide enrichment opportunities. More than 300 students participate each summer. Eliminating the program would not impact the core elementary academic program. Students have the option of participating in a number of other summer enrichment programs available in the community. Savings are estimated at $110,000 a year, which is nearly two teaching positions.
Q: The proposals call for reducing the K-12 instrumental A:
staff by one position. What will that mean for instrumental music in the District?
During the past few years, enrollment has declined in instrumental music. District administration will work with instrumental music staff to more efficiently allocate staff time moving forward. While caseloads may be slightly higher, the District expects to provide the same educational programming for students.
Athletics program adds $21,000 to budget While many people are up in arms about the budget cuts proposed by the district, the same can be said for the proposed budget additions. The budget meeting on Monday, Feb. 29 outlined 33 budget cut recommendations for the 2016-2017 school year. There were only six proposals for additions to the budget, one of them being a $21,000 increase to the athletics program. The controversy lies within the simple truth that it is an addition to the athletics program with cuts happening within the arts program and very few other additions to the budget. What many people don’t realize, is these additions to the athletics are vital to the safety of the athletes. That $21,000 includes $6,000 going toward an ambulance at home football games and $15,000 going toward an athletic trainer. “The city used to provide [the ambulance service at home football games] for us,” athletic director Tom Kerkman said. “We have to have an ambulance at our football games. We have to provide safety for our kids at varsity football games.” The city has provided the ambulance service for around 50-60 years to every high school in the city. Now, each high school has to come up with the funds to have this ambulance service at football games.
Kerkman believes the district has put a high price tag on the ambulance service so the cost of the ambulance won’t be as much as proposed in the budget. As for athletic trainer Shawn Campbell, he’s an employee of both Westside and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Westside and UNMC in the past have split the cost of paying Campbell but UNMC, who is going through a similar budget cut, has cut their funding for that program. The athletic program needs the $15,000 to keep an athletic trainer at Westside. “Really what [the total $21,000] is for, is student safety,” Kerkman said. “It’s not for football helmets or basketball equipment. It’s really for the sole purpose of student safety.” The athletics program itself is self-funded almost entirely on ticket and concession sales. All the money made at each athletic event is put back into the program, whether that be with paying referees and workers or buying new equipment. “When your superintendent says you have to cut [things] around the district, that hits home because you hate to see that happen,” Kerkman said. “If I could cut things out of the athletic programs, I would.”