11/18/2009 7:00:00 AM CVUSD board seeks clarification before voting on override election
Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier, file
The Chino Valley Unified School District Governing Board on Dec. 7 will decide whether or not to call for a maintenance and operations budget override for the 2010-2011 school year. "This board recognizes there is no help in sight," board member Paul Mitchell said. "We're going to turn to the only ones with help - the community."
Courtesy of the Prescott Daily Courier
The Chino Valley Unified School District Governing Board will wait until Dec. 7 to decide whether to call for a maintenance and operations budget override election for the 2010-2011 school year. The vote would take place on March 9, 2010.
Business director Valerie Walters, at a special board meeting Monday, said the district's attorney recommends the board not vote on the override issue until after Dec. 1. Superintendent Duane Noggle said some question exists if the district can go for an M&O budget override election in March. State statutes assert that the districts must conduct their first budget override election in November.
While the district's attorney considers it safe to proceed with a budget override election in March, he and Noggle are waiting for the attorney general to issue an opinion and are asking Rep. Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, to have the Legislature clarify the issue during its special session that started Tuesday.
Walters said if the board votes on the override election at its Dec. 7 meeting, the district still has two days until the last day it can call for the election. The board then voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare all the documentation necessary to call an election and set a special meeting for Dec. 7. Walters said on Dec. 7, the board must also decide if it is going for a 10 percent or 15 percent budget override.
She said a 10 percent override would raise $1,304,042.10 with a tax rate of $.4708 or $47.08 for a $100,000 house. A 15 percent override, she said, would raise $1,956,063.15 with a tax rate of $.7063 or $70.63 for a $100,000 house.
Board member Paul Mitchell said if CVUSD voters approve the budget override, it is in effect for seven years before it goes back to the voters.
The board took its action after Terry J. Lovell, Yavapai College professor of business, told the board and about 30 Chino Valley residents what they can expect from the economy in the next three to five years. He said the unemployment rate in the county is running at about 11 percent, while the rate for the actual unemployed, underemployed and discouraged workers who have quit looking for work is greater than 20 percent. And Lovell does not see the area's economy turning around for another three to five years.
"Robert J. Barro and Charles J. Redlick (of The Wall Street Journal) have proven stimulus spending doesn't work; tax cuts do," Lovell claimed. "However, there is not much way the CVUSD school board can cut taxes."
With Arizona facing a current budget deficit of $2 billion, and $4 billion for next year, and the United States debt hitting $13 trillion, no help is in sight from either of those two governments, he said.
"There is no help coming from anywhere else. It is doubtful any stimulus money is coming. You've got to fix it on your own," Lovell said.
If the board decides to go for a budget override, he said it is essential the board identify those most against it. Also, the board should set up an ad hoc committee to come up with the master plan or strategy to sell the need for the override.
When Yavapai College successfully went for a $64 million bond, he said, the faculty members went out and talked to all the businesspeople. He urged the board, if it goes for an override election, to select some of its star pupils and show what its passage means to them.
"This board recognizes there is no help in sight," Mitchell said. "We're going to turn to the only ones with help - the community."
Noggle said the question is "What quality of education do we want to provide to the children of Chino Valley?"
He stressed that CVUSD is committed to its children. Since 2007, he said, the district's enrollment has been declining. "I expect the declining enrollment to continue for some time," Noggle said. "We've got to budget accordingly."
Noggle reminded those present the district has cut about 60 employees in the past two years. "The district has been pro-active (in cutting expenses) by switching to a four-day school week, which has cut the cost of utilities. The staff is frugal, but 85 percent of the budget is people," he said.
If the state cuts an additional 6 to 15 percent in 2010-2011, CVUSD can't sustain its mission without exploring other sources of money, he said. Personnel Director Steve Owings said of the district's 154 teachers, 31.5 are exempt, leaving 122.5.
If the district must cut 3 percent of its teaching staff, he said, that would save the district about $480,000, while cutting 10 teachers. A 6 percent cut would save the district nearly $1 million, while cutting 20 teachers. A 9 percent cut, he said, would save the district $1.44 million, while cutting 29 teachers.
"I can't imagine what the district would look like with 29 certified (teaching) positions cut," Owings said.
Cindy Daniels, coordinator of student achievement, said by keeping the district's after-school program, it keeps students from moving to other districts.
She said CVUSD hasn't received any stimulus money through the state Department of Education despite having applied and met all deadlines. The stimulus money from the governor's office required the district to put the money into salaries.
If the board goes for an M&O budget override and the voters approve it, "we'll have the authority to decide how to spend it," Daniels said.
More budget cuts, she said, could mean a reduction in course offerings, double sessions, or a shift to online learning, but no money for technology. Daniels said Chino Valley High School is 120 computers short to meet the state's new technology standards.
The district also might need to close one elementary school, she said.
"There is no help coming," Mitchell said. "We do have resources within our community to help some. The override election is our last resort. I support us moving forward with an election."
Board member Bob Kaecker added, "I feel a definite need to move forward with this program. I visit the schools and see all the things that need (to be) revamped. There is a definite need for an override.
"I thank the mayor and council members for being behind us. It is going to take a lot of people to get this passed."
Board member Peter Atonna said, "We have one tool to preserve our education system - the override. Without it, we can't do it."
Board Chairman Travis Bard asks the community to join in the decision.
