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Menu of possible cost savings
TUSD still needs to find $5.5 million to balance its budget for the next school year. Some of the big-ticket items up for discussion:
• Shorter workweek. Asking employees to shave the workweek down to 37.5 hours would save $3.6 million.
• Two-day furlough. Sending every employee home for two non-instructional days, probably grading days, would save $2.5 million.
• Health insurance. Asking employees to pay $10 out of what is now a 100 percent district-funded obligation would save $1.2 million.
• Cutting the number of assistant principals. Schools with more than 600 students now qualify for the administrative position. Raising the student count needed to qualify could save anywhere from $80,000 to $1.4 million.
• Sharing principals. Seven principals, assisted by a lead teacher, could run 14 schools, saving $523,000.
• Librarian supervision. Under a medical-care model in which registered nurses supervise lower-ranking health-care aides, certified librarians could be asked to oversee library assistants at a number of sites. There is no projected cost estimate yet.
• Cutting student supplies. Schools get an allocation of $25 for each elementary school pupil and $30 for each high school student to provide supplies such as paper, glue and scissors. Shaving $5 per student would save $283,000.
• Interscholastic activities. High school students now pay $30 for each extracurricular activity they enroll in, including band, football, chess and drama. Raising those costs another $20 and adding a new middle school fee of $20 per year would generate roughly $200,000.

Tucson Region

TUSD eyes higher fees to balance new budget

By Rhonda Bodfield
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.13.2008
Cuts to gifted-student programs and higher fees for after-school activities will be on the menu tonight when the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board considers ways to close a remaining $5.5 million budget shortfall for the next school year.
High school students already pay $30 for each extracurricular activity — up to a total of $120 per family. The fees apply to everything from sports to chess to drama and mock trial.
The TUSD board will consider raising the fees to $50 per activity, with a family cap of $200.
And middle school students' parents, who now pay no fees, will be asked to kick in $20 per year for participation in up to four activities.
Combined, the two fee increases could generate about $200,000.
Meanwhile, the district is considering eliminating its self-contained gifted-and-talented programs, commonly known as GATE, in the first and second grades. The move does not yet carry a cost estimate.
District officials have been nibbling away at the deficit, which just last week was a reported $8.8 million. The district got word from the state that it will get more money for students who are learning English and enrolled in special education. It was also notified that a health-insurance increase, initially pegged at 15 percent, should be just 6 percent.
"These last $5 million in cuts will be very difficult decisions to make, given some of the difficult decisions the board has already made," said Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer, adding that the district is doing its best to keep cuts away from the classroom.
Employees may be asked to absorb most of the remaining cuts, with options still on the table to either trim the 40-hour workweek by a few hours or ask all employees to go home without pay for two days. And raises, which are projected to cost $2.3 million per percentage-point increase, aren't anywhere to be found in the current budget proposal, although contract talks are continuing with the four employee unions.
Some students already are having a hard time affording the fees.
The Educational Enrichment Foundation offers a scholarship to help students pay for activities. Two years ago, 799 students got help out of a total of about 1,000 requests. Last year, money ran out at 660 students.
"For some students, $30 might as well be $300 or $3,000," said Robert Padilla, the foundation's executive director, who anticipated the need would only grow with the faltering economy.
Gaston Yescas, a 17-year-old junior at Catalina Magnet High School, said he thinks $50 is too much for activities. He takes part in swimming and tennis. His older sister plays volleyball, soccer and tennis. He predicted it would be detrimental to students who won't be able to afford the extracurricular activities.
"That's when kids have fun in school, basically," he said, adding that it also helps students feel more connected to the social fabric of a school.
"It's a great way to meet new people," he said.
The foundation is exploring a wider fundraising campaign with advocates from the Tucson Unified School Supporters to raise the $2.5 million the district now spends on interscholastic programs. Supporters say that with Arizona consistently ranking near the bottom among states in school spending, there isn't enough money for public education, and the community could help fill the gap by funding enrichment activities.
To learn more about supporting scholarships for extracurricular activities, call the foundation at 325-8688.
● Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 573-4118 or at rbodfield@azstarnet.com.
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