Friday, June 22, 2012

Any regrets Jeff?

I've neglected to welcome Jeff Simpson to the board.  Jeff has been appointed to fill the vacancy left by Jason Mccutchin's resignation.  Jeff is a Cottage Grove resident who has served on past School Board committees.  His appointment will last until next spring's election.  

The board considered three candidates: Jeff, Ana Hamill and Larry Miller.  The selection was made after considering applications and interviewing the candidates.  It was a difficult choice to make from among the well qualified candidates.  Thanks to Ana and Larry for applying!

And welcome Jeff!

When a surplus isn't a surplus...

Although an unanticipated $500k is good news, calling it a surplus portrays a misleadingly picture of the budget.  In more accurate statement would be that our deficit for the coming year has shrunk from $1.2M to $700K.  An improvement, but it doesn't mean that we will be able to undo much of the damaging cuts we plan for next year.

So what happened?  After we cut $1.2 million from next years budget (reducing programs and making significant cuts to support staff) based on projections, several factors helped reduce the gap:  open enrollment came in higher than expected, we closed the deal on the lease with Maywood, and there were fewer retirements than expected.  Combined these things reduce the deficit by $500K.

One should note that fewer retirements does not save the district money over the long term.  We have an early retirement payout because it saves the district money: it takes a highly paid senior teacher off the payroll to be replaced by a lower paid new teacher.    Although rising health care costs have dramatically changed the equation, I believe it is still no worse than a wash.  So the fewer retirements this year are only a reprieve, and may increase future deficits.