District considers more cost cuts

Yuma Elementary School District 1 is grappling with how to confront an enrollment drop of more than 250 students and a $2.1-million decline in next year's budget.

The District 1 governing board will revisit that issue at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday during its May meeting in the district administration office, 450 W. 6th St.

The board will consider an administrative budget reduction, according to District 1 chief financial officer Kerry Jones.

Those reductions include possible cuts to the district's exceptional students programs, which have classes for gifted students. That item was proposed in April but was tabled and will be considered Tuesday.

Board member Gary Wright said he was opposed to cutting gifted programs but conceded times are hard. "With the funding climate in our schools nowadays, its really a balancing act and it's really hard to do."

The district also will not hold regular summer school classes this year due to a lack of funds.

Jones said they will have special programs for English Language Learning students, but there is no money for ordinary summer school. Some schools with leftover grant money from the 21st Century program may hold individual sessions, but the district as a whole will not fund it.

"In past years there's been some unspent budget capacity and funds they used to fund summer school," Jones said. "There's no carry-over this year."

The drop in the number of students will cost the district about $1.2 million in per-pupil funding from the state.

Another $954,000 will be cut because a previous budget override has been phased out. Voters did not approve its renewal in 2004.

The district is also facing the end of its Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant this year. The federal program provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for counseling and other student welfare programs.

The board already approved cuts in April to account for some of these changes.

"It used to be in the past that, when a grant went away, you could usually hunt for the funds someplace else to make up for it," Jones said. "That's not possible."

Jones said the district will probably eliminate two of the five elementary school counseling positions, which were largely paid for through Safe Schools.

He said the board already eliminated three teaching positions in music, art and physical education next year. While no one will be laid off, Jones said, three teachers who are retiring will not be replaced.

Other cost-saving cuts the board has approved include:

-Consolidating Post and Roosevelt schools. Fourth Avenue Junior High will follow a middle school model as it adds on sixth grade with students and teachers from Post School. The remaining grade levels of Post students and teachers will transfer to Roosevelt School.

-Increasing class sizes to an average of 26 students.

-Changing bus schedules to match up with the Yuma Union High School District to save on bus routes and travel costs.

Some also proposed cutting sports programs, but a committee is working to find alternatives to doing away with athletics.


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Sarah Reynolds can be reached at
sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.