Melissa Bailey Photo
This may have been the last $70 school-board spread.
The new superintendent has put an end to free food at school staff meetings — and is looking for $3.5 million more in savings and extra revenue — to close a budget gap he inherited upon becoming schools chief.
The superintendent, Garth Harries, announced that news Monday at the school board’s regular meeting at Hill Regional Career High School.
Shortly after becoming superintendent in July, Harries confronted what he termed a surprise structural deficit: For two years in a row, cost-cutting efforts had left the district $3.5 million in the red. He set about scrambling to find savings before the year started, including eliminating the middle school grades from Lincoln-Bassett and MicroSociety schools. Harries eliminated teaching positions, but he found the savings without laying anybody off.
On Monday, he announced that after the cost-cutting efforts, the school district now has a deficit of $3,458,940 in its $177.2 million operating budget.
Wait … wasn’t that the size of the original deficit?
No, Harries explained.
The school board actually approved a budget that had a $9.4 million hole. It approved a “budget initiative,” a plan to find cost-cutting measures an extra revenue to make ends meet by the end of the year.
The other $3.5 million budget hole he has been talking about refers to the structural deficit — the amount of deficit that the school district has been stuck with for two consecutive years, indicating a systemic problem.
Nearly halfway through the fiscal year, the school district has whittled down the projected deficit down to $3.5 million so far, Harries said.
Of the $3.5 million remaining deficit, $2.2 million comes from personnel costs. Another $1.2 million comes from non-personnel costs, such as transportation and special ed instruction.
Board member Alex Johnston thanked Harries for the update. Previously, board members did not receive regular financial reports.
Johnston noted that in order to close the gap, the district has a long way to go: finding $3.5 million savings in seven months is like finding $7 million over the course of a year. The full-time personnel budget is projected to be $1.1 million over-budget, for example. He predicted that gap could not be closed without letting people go.
Harries replied that the district hopes to close its deficit not through drastic cuts, but mostly by finding extra revenue. He said the budget-closing plan will be roughly two-thirds extra revenue, and one-third cuts.
Programs on the potential chopping block include daycare for infants and toddlers, Harries said at a previous meeting.
Harries declined Monday to name any specific cuts, except for one area: food.
Brown-Bagging
On Nov. 5, he issued a letter to school administrators announcing a new policy: No more free food at staff meetings.
Effective Nov. 12, 2013, he wrote, all schools and departments should limit purchases to essential items needed to support instruction and student services.
“Specifically, we ask that you refrain from submitting purchase orders for food for meetings and workshops for staff,” Harries wrote. “While I regret not being able to provide this small courtesy to our many valued professionals, we are in a time when we need to preserve resources for true instructional purposes.”
“We will also scrutinize travel closely, limiting trips, and when trips happen, limiting participants,” Harries continued.
Harries circulated the memo at the school board meeting.
Johnston suggested that in light of the memo, the school board revisit its policy of buying food for board members at its meetings.
Before Johnston spoke, Board President Carlos Torre had been picking away at a plate of melon from the biweekly food buffet. The dinner offerings have become more modest than in the past. Chief Operating Officer Will Clark said the food comes from the school district central kitchen, which prepares daily meals for 20,000 kids.
Each board dinner costs $70, totaling $1,680.00 for the year if all 24 meetings take place, according to a memo from the food services department, which bills the school board for the food.
On Monday, the district put out a pan of baked ziti — vegetarian, to meet the board president’s dietary restriction — as well as fruit, bread sticks and salad. Johnston refrained from indulging. As the meeting wrapped up, administrative staff and some children dug into the remaining supplies. Board member Susan Samuels wrapped up some pasta in a to-go plate.
Harries munched on a couple of soft bread sticks while chatting with Torre about the district’s efforts to recruit more minorities to administrative roles.
Harries said it’s worth reviewing the practice of offering food at school board meetings. While the food doesn’t cost a lot, he said, “it becomes symbolic.”
How about the Superintendent taking a pay cut to close some of the gap? Does anyone think that will happen? School in session on snowy/icy day like today is dangerous, unnecessary TEVAL procedure, treating the school system like a business...whats next?! Remember that the teachers are on the front line day in and day out with kids who don't exactly come from the best home situations. The least you can do is offer up a $70 meal per meeting to keep people awake and compliant.