Celina school board discusses budget cuts

CELINA - School board members plan to slash at least $1.5 million from the district's annual budget of roughly $33 million to ward off deficit spending projected in 2026.

Board members met Friday for a special meeting to act on a number of routine items. They also talked about a special meeting set for Wednesday to consider budget cuts.

"It should be noted that the final fiscal year 2022 forecast for May shows a deficit in year 2026 in excess of $8 million," district treasurer Darren Jenkins reported at a meeting earlier this month.

Celina City Schools employs about 110 teachers, not counting Tri Star instructors, according to Jenkins. The minimum state requirement is 79.3 teachers, he said. Similar-sized districts employ 94 teachers. Reducing the total number of teachers to 94 would result in a potential annual savings of $1 million, Jenkins had said.

Facing the prospect of financial calamity, board members said they would look into cutting teaching positions and, if necessary, pursuing a higher income tax levy at the ballot box.

Ahead of next week's meeting, board members laid out the parameters of the session, saying they want to meet with school administrators individually to get a grasp on course offerings, personnel levels and classroom numbers. Some administrators on Friday said they would like to engage board members as a group.

"Working as a team, this is one thing that this administrative team has done very, very well in the past and we've been able to come up with solutions," primary school principal Michelle Duncan said.

Board members said they first need to get a grasp on the framework of each school before they ask principals to identify positions that could be cut.

"We need to understand what we're looking for and that's why we are having the work session … so we know what we need to ask of the administration," board president Deb Guingrich said.

Even if voters renew a 1% income tax that expires at the end of 2023, officials still need to cut $1.5 million "per year to survive," board member Mark Huelsman said.

"In my mind that's the baseline," Huelsman said of the $1.5 million figure. "We want to understand what our baseline is and if we're doing the right things with our curriculum."

Huelsman said he has questions, such as whether the high school offers the right classes for kids in today's world.

"What is that mix? And I'm not saying you haven't done that. I would just kind of like for you guys to explain that to me … so that we make sure that we're offering the correct curriculum," he said.

Classroom numbers also need to be looked at, he asserted, saying high school math classes have an average of 16 students.

"The state … they fund us at 25 so anything less than 25 Celina City Schools is paying a premium for," he said. "And I'm not saying that's wrong but I'm saying if we're going to pay a premium for those classes we need to be able to justify that and explain that to the public."

Huelsman said that's the type of exercise he wants to do with principals.

"I don't want to do your job. I don't want to tell you who to hire, who to fire, who to put where. I just want to get a comfort level that I understand enough," he said.

Board members may find they need to ask the public for more money, if analysis bears such a conclusion, Huelsman said.

"But asking for money still isn't going to solve our problem," Guingrich replied. "We've asked for cuts in the past, I know from being on the board, and it seems like we made the cuts but then during the year we hire, we hire, we hire, we hire, our cuts all disappear."

At this point the board must trim expenses above $1.5 million, she said.

"We're not doing ourselves any good by just making the minimum cuts then hiring the people back and being in the same boat the next year," Guingrich said.

Jenkins said everyone should know roughly 45% of the district's funds come from the state. The rest comes from local sources. Officials must consider reductions elsewhere, too, he said.

"We've got to look at every area of the school system to make us as efficient as possible," he said.

Also, facilities director Phil Metz said it would be very difficult to ensure a certain number of students are in each class, saying a myriad variables are at play.

"We work around Tri Star and band," he said. "We want to give everybody an opportunity to take everything we possibly can."

Principals indicated they would still like to engage board members as a collective after they've met with them individually.

"If we could all work together and try to decide (cuts) I think that it would go over much better, and putting our minds together would be wonderful," said high school principal Renee Kramer.

"We could try it and see what happens," Huelsman replied.

Duncan said she understands board members must get district finances in order.

"And I don't disagree," she said. "As a resident of Celina I want us to be fiscally responsible but I also want to make sure that we're taking into account what's best for the kids and the community."