News-Times Whidbey
LIVING: Middle schoolers knit for those in need. A10
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 103 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Schools prepare for ‘fiscal cliff’ By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
Spending reductions and tax increases associated with the pending federal “fiscal cliff” could hit the pocketbook of the Oak Harbor School District. School officials are bracing for about $1 million in reductions should federal lawmakers fail to reach an agreement by the end of the year to avert across the board spending cuts and tax increases that are scheduled to take place in coming weeks. Rick Schulte, superintendent of the Oak Harbor School District, said the school district will see an immediate reduction of approximately $500,000 in Impact Aid funding. Impact Aid is a federal pot of money for school districts that have significant populations of students from military families or from Indian reservations. Those students often live on federal lands, which don’t pay local property taxes and place a financial burden on the local school district. “The challenge is the cut to Impact Aid will take place in the middle of the year,” Schulte said. He said the reduction to Impact Aid will take place immediately, which is after officials had already set the school year budget and already made decisions about staffing. The Oak Harbor School District is budgeting to receive just over $4 million in federal dollars and the district received $4.5 million in Impact Aid during the previous school year.
Schulte noted the federal funding has declined in recent years. In 2007, the school district received approximately $6 million in Impact Aid. Impact Aid isn’t the only federal funding source that will be affected by the “fiscal cliff.” Schulte said he is expecting around a $500,000 reduction in special education. He said that reduction won’t be felt until next year because the allocation for the current school year has already been made. That reduction would affect the district’s most needy students and provide a severe challenge, Schulte said. Schulte lobbied legislators in Washington D.C. in September, but said they didn’t have any solutions for the situation. In Coupeville, officials are expecting to see reductions in funding in federal programs, such as learning assistance and Title I, but Superintendent Karen Koschak said she didn’t have a firm dollar amount. Because the federal dollars fund essential programs, the Coupeville School District will have to transfer dollars earmarked for such things as textbook adoptions and staff development, Koschak said. Schulte said $1 million in expenditures is frozen and won’t be made until things improve. Those expenditures include custodial and maintenance supplies and classroom supplies. “We will not spend it until we know we have it,” Schulte said.
Nathan Whalen/Whidbey News-Times
State Rep. Norma Smith talks with Oak Harbor School District Superintendent Rick Schulte before a meeting Tuesday where school officials advocated for their legislative priorities.
State reps. plan legislative priorities By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
Oak Harbor school officials are hoping to see a delay in regulations that could interfere with career and technical classes at the high school. School board members met with State Rep. Norma Smith recently to discuss legislative priorities for the upcoming session. Those priorities include delaying regulations that could affect career and technical education, the proper funding of schools and compensation. School officials are concerned proposed changes to graduation requirements will reduce the number of electives students could take for career and technical education, arts and band classes.
The proposed requirements, known as Core 24, increases the number of credits students have to complete in order to graduate, but school officials are concerned that additional requirements will reduce the number of electives students are able to take. Career and technical education is a topic Smith advocates. It readies students to enter the workforce. “It’s about thousands of jobs in this state that go unfilled because these kids are unprepared,” Smith said during the meeting. School officials often are quick to highlight the high school’s career and technical program, which was a major part of the high school’s remodel that took place years ago. The high school
offers classes in such areas as culinary arts, auto repair, computer aided drafting and robotics. Schulte said after the meeting that he would like to see work on the new requirements delayed and the money and resources could be moved to more pressing matters. The school board and staff attending the meeting also advocated for improving compensation. Schulte noted staff would like to see the 1.9 percent pay cut restored and said the legislature has to stop suspending I-732, which requires cost of living increases for teachers. It has done that for four years and will continue for the next two. Schulte and the school board are also advocating
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for the legislature to make progress complying with the McCleary decision, a Washington State Supreme Court ruling that said the state hasn’t been fully funding education. According to a letter the school district gave to state reps Dave Hayes and Norma Smith along with State Sen. Barbara Bailey, the school district outlined details the legislature needed to meet requirements set forth by the McCleary decision. Those details include con-
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