In order to cover a nearly $400,000 revenue shortfall, the Garden Valley School District is asking district voters to approve a supplemental levy just over half that amount.
District #71’s board of trustees voted on January 17th to take a Supplemental Levy to the district’s voters in the amount of $225,000 per year, for the next two years.
The election date is set by the state and will be March 8, 2011. Unlike previous school related elections, voting no longer takes place at the school, as new laws place it in the hands of Boise County. The election locations will be the Crouch Community Hall and the Lowman Emergency Center.
Following salary freezes and cuts to employee benefits last year, along with reducing all program budgets, the district plans another $150,000 - $200,000 in internal cuts for the coming year. The levy amount will allow the district to maintain its excellent programs in music, art, athletics and foreign language.
Yet even with the successful levy, the cuts will reduce some administrative staff hours, and likely result in combining two or more elementary grades.
“Next year is less than bare bones,” says district superintendent Mike Tomlin. “We just returned from two days with the Legislature, and I am very convinced this is a ‘new normal’ level of funding.
“Council School District has cut salaries 11% in the last two years, and does not offer art,” Tomlin continued, “every legislator I spoke with said to ‘get used to lower state funding.’ That puts our elective programs of excellence and all activities well short of state funding.”
Passage of the levy will raise school district property taxes generally in the $4.00 to $13.00 per month range. Passage will also allow all current school programs to continue.
The district has placed a FAQ Sheet – Frequently Asked Questions - on its web site at www.gvsd.net, and on the Garden Valley Daily News and encourages all voters to review it, and to contact the district with any questions they may have.
Contact: Dr. MichaelTomlin
mtomlin@gvsd.net, or
208-462-3756 X 1012
GV
How much adminstration (in $$)will be cut and have been cut in the last years? Just saying hours does not mean anything. Why are we paying our staff to hang out with the Legislature? What two elementary classes are you planning on combining? If we were to reduce our Superintendent and Principal to one position how much would be saved (in $$). Can we use that saved from Admin towards Music, Art, ect? How much do we pay to certified employees and how much do we get funded for certified employees?
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it Pre-school is not a State mandated program, therefore, not funded by the State. Does Pre-school come out of GVSD's General Fund ?
ReplyDeleteWill the District continue to pay the cost to fund Pre-school while cutting costs to other programs, i.e. Art, Athletics, Business Technology, Foreign Language, Music, P.E., as well as cutting salaries to certified employees?
The cut sheet that I have from the district has preschool on the chopping block.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were "hanging out with the Legislature" to learn how to handle everything in the way the community expects them to. There are many things that are out there to be learned...why not take advantage of that time to visit with other school officials to see how they are handling things, what kind of cuts they are making...things like that.
ReplyDeleteWhat two elementary classes are you planning on combining? Does that really matter?
GV has "talked" about why we have to have a super & a principal for years and years and years. That is the way it always has been, that is the way it will probably always be.
Sounds like you have a bunch of questions, maybe you should come to a meeting now & then when they answer all these questions publicly. I think they just had one in Lowman this past week.