District faces financial challenges

PLYMOUTH – School Board President Mark Rhyan updated the board and community at Tuesday’s meeting on the work of the Financial Planning Subcommittee to address the serious financial challenges the district faces during the next few years.

Rhyan and board members Pam Holzhaeuser and Tim St. Clair are members of the subcommittee that has been meeting since December.

The fund balance (district’s savings account) projections for the district reveal a steady decline. They are as follows:
. 2009-10 – $2,491,000
. 2010-11 – $2,191,000
. 2011-12 – $1,061,000
. 2012-13 – $-$579,000.

“The picture is rather dire, but I am not going to let that [negative fund balance in 2012-13] happen,” Rhyan informed The Review Wednesday.

“The folks in the District Leadership Team [DLT] are playing a huge, integral role in helping us to reduce the deficit, without harming the educational program of the district. They are doing a terrific job.”

Rhyan stressed at Tuesday’s meeting that Plymouth School District officials got an earlier start on working on this problem than many other of its peer districts.

“Jon [Miller, manager of business services] got some decent projections over the past two years,” Rhyan said.

He added that he had attended a legislative breakfast Monday and a Uniserve dinner in Kiel that evening. “A few legislators were at that dinner too,” Rhyan noted.

A discussion of school funding took place at both events. “I don’t like to sugarcoat things,” Rhyan stressed.

“The responses we received were nothing short of embarrassing. There was little if any solution offered to the school- funding dilemma.

He added that many school districts across the state are facing problems much larger than those of the Plymouth School District.

“The reason for the problem is primarily the state shortfalls in funding,” Rhyan said. “I don’t believe this problem will be resolved without systemic change by the state.”

“This is a train heading for a bridge that is out,” he said. “It is very unlikely this situation will resolve itself in time to address the needs school districts are facing.”

The Financial Planning Subcommittee compiled a report with possible solutions to address the problem. These include methods to expand enrollment – attracting and retaining students by enhancing the educational model of the district – and methods to reduce costs.

The items recommended to expand enrollment include: .Providing computers to PHS students .Soliciting parental involvement

.Bolstering the fine-arts program

.Enhancing the PHS STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and alternative energy programs

.Adding more Advancement Placement courses .Expanding the school’s online program . Offering Pegasus after-school programs. The DLT will deliver an implementation plan by mid April. It will include: .A timetable .Estimated cost of implementation .Specific measurable tactics to achieve .Identification of an initiative leader .An estimate of student attraction potential

.Underlying rationale for improvement to the education model.

Cost-cutting measures that could be implemented that would result in a small negative impact on student enrollment and which would not hurt the educational program include:

.Spending down the fund balance .Elementary school consolidation .Sale of the district’s 21-acre property . Establishing a health center – a partnership with employees to manage healthcare costs . Reducing support services . Consolidating bus stops . Eliminating all bussing . Pursuing grants .Holding a referendum to exceed revenue limits .Consolidating districts

.Joining a consortium on funding.

Board member Pam Holzhaeuser commended Rhyan for the report and graphs he compiled to illustrate the effects of the cost-cutting methods.

Holzhaeuser invited comments from the public on these issues. She asked the public to phone or send emails with suggestions to board members.

“Our subcommittee meetings are open to the public,” she said. “Come to our meetings.”