Unknown factors stall APS budget

Jan. 28--Alamogordo Public Schools will begin the process of making its 2014-15 school year budget but as of right now several unknown factors will keep decisions on where to cut costs on hold.

The Board of Education was presented with preliminary data sheets for the upcoming school year budget. While there are several unknown cost like salary increases, insurance and health premiums, 2015 school board elections, a new superintendent search and the cost of the new Affordable Health Care Act.

The district is projecting to loss more than 60 full-time equivalent students to its enrollment numbers which will decrease the amount the New Mexico Public Education Department awards in the State Equalization Guarantee.

The SEG is based on the district's average enrollment on the 80th and 120th day of the school year and next year's unit values which are based on several factors like at-risk index, growing districts, school size and other factors.

APS superintendent Dr. George Straface said the district will not know its official enrollment numbers and unit values until March or April.

According to preliminary budget estimates, the district will receive $38.6 million from SEG for the 2014-15 school year -- about a million less given for this year.

At a board planning meeting on Saturday, Straface listed several possible cuts in different departments in the district -- none of which have yet to be finalized -- but said he is already asking departments and schools to restrict their spending to build the amount of money the district can carry over to next year's budget.

"It will lessen what we have to reduce next year if we can conserve now," he said. "It's the third year I have done that, so I don't anticipate to get a lot, but that is what I asked."

Straface said he asked several departments to cut 10 percent of their planned expenditures, like supplies and materials, for the next school year.

He said he also placed a modified hiring freeze, saying that the district will only hire permanent staff for essential positions and other hires will be substitutes who can be released.

He said essential positions are teachers, principal and certain education assistance jobs -- but not all -- and will be judged case by case by the district.

At the meeting, Dr. Allan Rickman, board president, said he would be willing to decrease the district's five percent cash reserve this year to two or three percent in order to maintain programs and anything else that directly effects students.

The board currently has a five percent cash reserve policy that was implemented for the 2013-14 school year.

At the meeting, the reserve was estimated to be more than $2 million but could be less if the district receives less money from the state this year.

"I think if we were to have that discussion, we would have to have some path to get us back to the five percent," Rickman said.

Other board members agreed with Rickman that the board should help programs by reducing the reserve and have a plan to return to a five percent cash reserve if they decide to reduce the reserve for next year.

Straface said there are currently no plans to close any schools in the district.

He said some middle and high school programs could be reduced or eliminated but the district hasn't identified those programs.

"This is like nailing Jell-O to the wall, a lot of projections, a lot of assumptions, but until we know unit value, until we see our average of our 80th and 120th day count -- we don't know yet," Straface said.

___

(c)2014 the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.)

Visit the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.) at www.alamogordonews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services