Simplified: The Sioux Falls School District is planning to cut $3 million and still run a deficit in the coming year, but soon-to-be Superintendent Jamie Nold said no one will lose their job as a result.
Why it matters
- These budget cuts were years in the making, as Sioux Falls schools knew they'd have to eventually roll back some of the expenses added to the district budget with the help of federal pandemic relief funds. Those funds dried up last year, but the district opted to keep funding some of the ongoing expenses – extra school counselors, for example.
- Though $3 million is a dramatic cut, many departments have been scaling back over the last several years. Some of these cuts are simply not filling open positions, and others are as nitty-gritty as asking teachers not to have their own lamps to save on power costs.
- Outgoing Superintendent Jane Stavem noted the additional constraints of the state funding for education which saw a 1.25% increase this year – significantly lower than recent years which brought between 4% and 7% increases.
- Since reworking the way schools are funded nearly a decade ago, the state has agreed to increase funding for schools either at the rate of inflation or at 3% annually, whichever is less. Funding this year falls short of that benchmark, violating state statute.
"We’re up against a lot with state things coming down, so everything is feeling like it’s under a microscope," Board Member Dawn Marie Johnson said. "But people have been doing their due diligence for years to make sure this (budget reduction) gets done properly."
So, what's getting cut?
Before getting into the weeds, it's worth noting that overall class sizes will remain the same and nobody is losing their job – both points officials stressed multiple times during a budget work session this week. Any of the folks in positions that are eliminated will have a chance to move into a different role.
That said, here's a rundown of some of the proposed cuts:
- Reducing education assistants in classrooms with particularly high enrollment (done by keeping class sizes smaller),
- Eliminating a forensics teacher position at the Career and Technical Education Academy,
- Reducing "personal lights" for staff,
- Eliminating some extra-duty pay for yearbook assistants,
- Reducing pay for lunch-time supervision,
- Having fewer buses for the high school "tripper" routes,
- Eliminating the COGAT screener (a cognitive abilities test) for all second graders and instead giving it only to kids when parents request it,
- And eliminating a middle school literacy coach.
With all the cuts there is one program that's set to get more funding as the district looks to create an administrative position to oversee the Office of Indian Education.
You can find a comprehensive look at next year's budget here.
What happens next?
The board will have another public work session at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 2.
As for the long-term, there are quite a few variables that will affect budgets moving forward, including in large part decisions made in Pierre.
"If the type of funding that goes to schools gets changed or altered by someone it affects thousands of kids," Nold said. "So it's critical that people that have their students in our public schools stand up for that."
Megan Raposa
