Higher enrollment spares Gadsden district

  SAN LUIS, Ariz. - Thanks to an increase in enrollment in local schools, there won’t be a need to do significant cuts to the Gadsden Elementary School District (GESD) budget, said Superintendent Raymond Aguilera.

  At least 100 new student enrollments during the current school year mean that the district will have an increase of $500,000 to its budget, Aguilera estimated. Aguilera said the increased enrollment is a boost to the school’s budget since more students equal more money provided by the state to district operations.

  Aguilera said that although the state cut the district’s budget by $560,000, “We have not plans to make changes during this school year because we are not in as bad a shape as some districts due to our increased student enrollment."

  However, he added that the district may not have the funds for salary increases during the next fiscal year, and that it would be the first time in a decade that employees don’t receive one.

  A few days into the formulation of their new budget, GESD officials found out they would receive $22.1 million in state funds instead of the $22.7 million they were expecting.

  Aguilera said that if the economic situation worsens for school systems, some of the line items on the budget would read "if funds are available."

  When comparing GESD with Yuma districts, Aguilera said the community can be at ease because the Gadsden school district has not yet experienced a significant impact.

  “I encourage people to be calm. What I have seen so far is that we won’t be affected as much as we thought when we first discussed budget cuts months ago.”

  Aguilera said it was recommended that administrators and directors limit expenses as much as they can for the remainder of the school year and for them to “keep a close watch on purchases. There maybe things they could hold off buying until the new year.”

  He stated that these measures along with state cuts would allow the district to balance its budget by the end of the school and avoid a deficit.

  Aguilera commented this was the biggest crisis to hit the school system since he started in 1974 and that it is not a state or a national problem, but a global one impacting everyone.

  Aguilera questions those who hold the opinion that the district should cut administrative costs when they do not know what those costs are.

  “The state classifies anything that is outside the classroom as an administrative cost. We would have to cut not only district offices but security guards, psychologists, counselors as well as other positions that are necessary to schools."

  He warned that if the district were to make more cuts, one of the more vulnerable services would be the school resource officer program for which the district receives close to $3 million from the state, allowing them to have an officer in charge of safety and prevention.

  This program would be one of the most affected if there were to be more state cuts, he said.

  On the other hand, the district could receive close to $1.4 million through Title I for students with difficulty in reading and math, as well as the special education program from the federal stimulus package. But these funds could not be used to fix budget problems, he said.

  “We will know soon how much we will receive in stimulus funds and hope the funds are not earmarked, but we don’t know yet."