The Arizona Daily Star

Published: 04.03.2008

CFSD looks at cuts in 2008-09 budget
> Library, custodial, administrative jobs could go <
By Jamar Younger
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Informing community
Catalina Foothills School District community presentations
The Catalina Foothills School District will hold two community budget presentations:
• 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ventana Vista Elementary School, 6085 N. Kolb Road.
• 9 a.m. April 11, Manzanita Elementary School, 3000 E. Manzanita Ave..
In its budget recommendations for next year, the Catalina Foothills School District is proposing to cut two elementary school library positions but add teaching positions.
The district's 2008-09 budget proposal also calls for the elimination of two custodial positions at the two middle schools, almost three classified positions at Catalina Foothills High School and some administrative positions at the district level.
However, the anticipated increase in open-enrollment students next school year could bring 11 new teaching positions to accommodate the growth, said Superintendent Mary Kamerzell.
District administrators will continue to discuss and update the budget recommendations throughout the rest of the school year at the district's regular governing board meetings and community presentations.
If approved and after a public hearing, the proposed budget is expected to be adopted by July, if not sooner.
The cuts would allow the district to save more than $845,000, which would be included in the $1.8 million of revenue adjustments.
The district would use more than $1 million of that money to pay for employee salaries and wage increases, and $473,000 to hire the teachers needed to accommodate the open-enrollment students.
The district received 486 open-enrollment applications by March 1 and contacted those families on Tuesday to let them know if they were accepted, rejected or put on a waiting list, Kamerzell said.
The district will continue to accept applications until the first day of school in August.
Open-enrollment students will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.
Eighty percent of accepted open-enrollment students usually decide to attend schools in the district each year, she said.
The school district probably would have had to trim the budget even more if not for the open-enrollment students and the money the Arizona Department of Education provides for those students, Kamerzell said.
"The single most important aspect of the budget is growth in open enrollment," she said. "Without that, we would have to cut more deeply. We would find it difficult to add money to salaries and wages."
The district has seen a steady enrollment decline from 5,021 students in 2004-05 to 4,644 this school year.
The school district budgeted about $1.4 million in revenue for the open-enrollment students.
That number could increase, depending on how many students enroll, she said.
Open-enrollment growth could bring more teachers to every school except Ventana Vista, she said.
Despite the increase in teachers, the elementary schools will have to continue to serve their students with one librarian who rotates between two schools every other week, she said.
Two librarians have served the district's four elementary schools this year because the district could not find any qualified applicants, she said.
The lack of applicants did not influence the decision to cut the positions, she said.
The district has provided substitute teachers to work in the libraries when the librarians are not there, she said.
The district could save the library positions if it ends up with extra money, which could come from more students enrolling or a variety of other factors, she said.
District officials will look at the possibility of bringing the substitutes back next year if the library positions are not saved.
Librarian Caryl Jones said she is optimistic that the school district will be able to save the positions.
"I know for this entire year everyone has felt a lack of a librarian and no one wants to see this continue," Jones said.
Jones rotates between Ventana Vista and Canyon View elementary schools each week, she said.
Librarians are important because they do more than just buy and shelve books, she said.
"We are actually doing instruction and reading comprehension," she said.
Jones teaches her students Internet research skills and covers topics such as piracy and copyrights, she said.
"We take our personal and district vision and we make that library the heart of the school," she said.
Some parents agree that libraries are important to their children's education.
Lisa Millerd and some other parents tried to work with the district administrators to figure out how to fill the positions, she said.
"We went in with, 'How can we do this creatively?' and ended up with what we have now," she said.
Millerd has two sons who attend school in the district. John, 14, is an eighth-grader at Esperero Canyon, and Ben, 9, is a third-grader at Ventana Vista, she said.
Millerd and the other parents inquired about other options for the district, including training someone within the district, she said.
One of the parents even called the University of Arizona to find qualified applicants, she said.
"We couldn't find qualified people," she said. "So the answer is to lose the jobs? It doesn't seem right to me."
Millerd is not upset with the district and understands that cuts had to be made, she said.
"I don't think the district is wrong, but I don't like their decision."
Informing community
Catalina Foothills School District community presentations
The Catalina Foothills School District will hold two community budget presentations:
• 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ventana Vista Elementary School, 6085 N. Kolb Road.
• 9 a.m. April 11, Manzanita Elementary School, 3000 E. Manzanita Ave..
● Contact reporter Jamar Younger at 434-4076 or jyounger @azstarnet.com.

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