Area Schools Prepare as Tough Times Loom
January 12, 2010
Educators tend to think in terms of school years rather than calendar years, but as 2010 dawns most expect 12 months of challenges greater than they’ve faced in a while.
Things already were getting bad in 2009 when the state warned school districts not to budget $110 million in school funding because it probably would be taken back.
Now, school districts across Colorado are l ooking for ways to cut 6.12 percent in the next fiscal year in order to cope with reduced state funding.
For the Pueblo City Schools district, that means trimming $6 million from a budget that has seen cuts annually. Superintendent Kathy West said, “This will take a concerted effort by board, staff and stakeholders to collaboratively consider the best ways to address this challenge while minimizing impact to the education of students.”
So far, the city district has not revealed its plans, but in Pueblo County School District 70, educators are looking at some major changes in operations, including a possible four-day school week that was rejected last year and possibly the closure of some schools that have seen a shrinking enrollment.
West said she wants to reach out to the community to develop more partnerships.
Local educators remain optimistic things could get better.
“It looks like Colorado is positioned well for Race to the Top federal monies,” West explained.
She said her own district is “well-positioned” because it already has aligned a lot of what it does to the federal goals, such as how teachers and principals are evaluated in order to support, retain, promote or remove staff.
At the state level, West said, construction money could be available.
“The BEST program may be a potential source of matched funding whereby the district could complete the installation of air conditioning throughout the district,” she said.
That was a goal of her predecessor John Covington, which voters rejected via a bond issue that would have paid for it. Covington wanted more flexibility in extending the school year into the summer, especially for remedial programs.
West said, “Because the district has such a high perc entage of students qualifying for free and reduced meals, the district would only have to provide a 9 percent match toward the total cost.”
Another initiative of Covington’s that West sees continuing to pay off is an intensive training program for administrators aimed at showing principals how to work with their staffs for better results.
“There are three years left on the National Institute for School Leadership grant,” she said. “This will provide essential skills for district staff to become more effective educators.”
West also wants to do more to train teachers using the America’s Choice program for coaching and professional development. She also wants to develop an incentive and pay-for-performance plan, tied to new evaluation systems for district employees.
West, who as associate superintendent oversaw the district’s new magnet schools, said she wants to expand those programs.
She also wants to bring back many of the community members who worked on the strategic plan to take stock of progress and recommend any new best practices they have found since the plan was approved three years ago.
In District 70, some of the actions taken in previous years offer hope for weathering the tough economy.
Part of the district’s technology initiative, best known for distributing laptop computers to upper-grade students, also included distance learning programs that allow students to take classes remotely without having to travel to a different high school.
District 70 administrators and board members have stressed over the past few weeks as they’ve discussed the next budget that they’d like to see some things done better, not just more cheaply and the crisis could present an opportunity for that.
For example, the tiny Beulah School, whose com munity has feared for some time that it could be closed, could become a charter school, giving it more independence and financial advantages.