Powell school district officials say they’ve found a way to reduce the district’s budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars while also providing more than $200,000 in raises to eligible employees.

Due to an economic downturn and cuts to K-12 funding from the state, Park County School District No. 1 must trim roughly $287,000 from its 2017-18 budget, which begins July 1; the exact amount of the state reduction won’t be finalized until this summer, said Mary Jo Lewis, coordinator of business services.

In recent weeks, Powell district administrators came up with about $693,000 in cuts for the coming fiscal year; some of those savings will be used on the raises, other savings may go toward high school students’ computers.

The largest cut — roughly $200,000 — comes from reducing summer school.

At the elementary school level, “summer school will be K-2 reading only,” Superintendent Kevin Mitchell said last week. “There will not be any [summer school] at the middle school, and high school will be credit recovery only.”

Administrators had lengthy discussions about summer school and considered research that shows after-school programs are more effective than summer school, Mitchell said.

“K-2 reading is important because of our strategic goal of this district that every student reads by the end of third grade,” he said.

Other major cuts come from not replacing a half-time instructional facilitator at the middle school ($40,000) and reducing the pre-kindergarten liaison program ($60,000). The district also will pay off a bus lease payment this year, reducing that amount for next year ($63,500).

The natural gas budget also will be reduced by $30,000. Powell’s new school buildings “are much more efficient, so it’s actually costing us considerably less in natural gas to operate those buildings,” Lewis told the board, adding, “We still have enough money in the budget to cover any increase in gas prices.”

She noted that this was one of the worst winters, but there still will be over $60,000 left in the natural gas budget.

In addition, the district will change its health insurance plans and save $117,175.

Board: Proceed with raises for employees

After considering proposed cuts during their April 25 meeting, Powell school board members continued a discussion about whether to give raises to employees next year. For staff members who qualify for steps and lanes on the salary schedule, raises would cost $208,161 — almost $60,000 less than district officials initially estimated.

Board chairman Greg Borcher said the school district’s attorney advised the discussion about raises could be held in executive session — which would be closed to the public — because it was part of salary negotiations.

“I’m open to just discussing it right here,” said Don Hansen, school board trustee. “But I’ll talk about anything openly if you bring something up.”

Discussion then proceeded in open session.

“Personally, I think it’s important that we support our staff by doing this little bit,” Borcher said.

A step or lane increase amounts to an $1,100 annual increase.

Board trustee Kimberly Condie said she was grateful for the numbers and helpful information administrators provided to the board.

“… The way everything looks here, I feel like we could do steps and lanes,” she said. “I think that’s the right thing to do.”

She also noted that, with the change in insurance, many employees will have more out-of-pocket costs.

Hansen was the only board member to speak against giving raises last week.

“I would love to give raises — I would love to. But I don’t think it’s the right thing to do right now,” Hansen said.

He also added: “What would be wrong with giving the state back some money? Boy, that’d be unheard of.”

“Mr. Chairman, [if] we give it back to them, we never get it back. Ever,” Lewis responded. “It’s a reduction in our funding for every year.”

With nearly $700,000 in cuts having been identified, Trustee Kim Dillivan noted the district can meet the $287,000 reduction from the state while also providing the step and lane increases.

Hansen said he called a Park County employee and a state legislator, who said neither the county nor the state have given raises in the last two or three years.

“A lot of people who work in the oil field, this has hit them really hard,” Hansen added.

Trustee Lillian Brazelton said she respects Hansen’s position, and noted she’s a county employee.

“To me, our students are our greatest asset in this state, and for the state Legislature to not see that, and choose to make education a target …,” she said. Brazelton added that Lewis made a good point in saying that the Powell school district should not be ashamed for taking care of its budget.

Brazelton and fellow school board members praised the work Lewis and administrators have done.

“They understand that next year, that’s probably not going to be an option,” Brazelton said of the raises. “But I think if the money’s there this year, they should be rewarded for working hard.”

Borcher said he also saw Hansen’s point.

“I feel for the county employees and state employees, and I don’t think we should punish our employees because the county commissioners decided to withhold from their employees, and I don’t feel like we should punish our employees because the state decided to withhold from their employees, either,” Borcher said.

“To me, Greg, they’re all employees of the people of Wyoming. They all are — every school teacher, every county employee,” Hansen said.

Mitchell said the county might have the money, “they just choose not to spend it,” adding that the county has $16 million in reserves.

Hansen pointed out that Northwest College faced significant budget cuts last year.

“That’s education, too,” Hansen said. “They had to cut a lot more than we did.”

“We may be looking at cutting 13 percent next year, according to a couple legislators,” Borcher said.

Hansen asked how many years it’s been since Powell school employees didn’t get a raise. Mitchell said it depends on the employee; about a third of teachers have topped out, meaning they have reached all the possible step and lane increases. Around one-fourth of the classified staff, which includes para-educators and bus drivers, have topped out.

The school district last provided a base salary increase two years ago, and has done step and lane increases for many years, including last year, Mitchell said.

Trustee Trace Paul agreed with Brazelton, that the Powell school district shouldn’t be ashamed that its budget has been managed well.

“We know that when we get around districts from around the state that there’s a difference in the way budgets can be managed, without a doubt,” Paul said. “And we’re very fortunate for the way Park 1 has taken fiscal responsibility for the district. I don’t think we have taken anything away from the quality of education for the students to give money back to the staff … that happens because, I think, the budget has been managed very well and has afforded the district to do those things.”

Lewis said the board has heard from principals throughout the school year that students are excelling in test scores and other achievements.

“I think that’s a testament, too, to everybody’s commitment from the board down,” Lewis said.

Borcher said that, across Wyoming, some school districts are only doing steps or lanes, some are doing both and others are freezing employees’ salaries. 

Dillivan asked what would happen with the extra savings — the difference between the reductions being required by the state and the cuts identified by the school district.

“That $315,000 — that’s revenues over the expenditures — we have to spend it, or give it back to the state,” Borcher said. “It’s not something that we can save until next year, because they won’t let us do that. It’s either spend it or give it back.”

Dillivan asked if that money would go toward funding some of the cuts that had been identified.

Lewis said that isn’t the intent.

“Our administrative team has gone through and they’re committed to what we’re doing here,” she said. “They know that this is the first year of this, and they’re committed to that.”

The $315,000 will go toward one-time expenditures, such as the lease payment for the laptops at the high school, she said.

The Powell school board will consider the preliminary 2017-18 budget at its May 9 meeting; the board will hold a public hearing on the final budget in July.