The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. budget is shrinking, but classroom-related expenses are not, EVSC administrators said Monday.
A proposed $200 million spending plan for 2011 assumes no salary increases and no layoffs. It reflects $8 million in administrative and operations cuts that Superintendent Vincent Bertram announced earlier this year.
Teacher compensation for the upcoming school year is unsettled. While raises look unlikely, Evansville Teachers Association Director Dan Hartz said he’s happy that no pink slips are being given.
Many Indiana school districts have laid off teachers because of cuts in K-12 education funding. The state announced $300 million in cuts earlier this year, and districts are having to plan for 2011 knowing more reductions are possible.
“I knew the school district was doing everything possible to maintain the amount of dollars and the people needed to support kids in the classroom,” Hartz said. “I applaud (Bertram) for that.”
The EVSC’s 2011 budget projects an overall tax rate of 59 cents per $100 assessed valuation. For 2010, the rate wound up being 55 cents after an initial guess of 60 cents.
Total assessed valuation is the key factor in setting tax rates. This year’s figure is $7 billion, and the school district based its 2011 budget on that number holding steady.
The budget also assumes no change in EVSC’s student enrollment of about 22,500.
Ninety-five percent of EVSC’s projected $150 million general fund is to pay for salaries and benefits. Employee insurance costs are expected to rise 14 percent next year.
“That’s the only part of the budget that allows us to pay for teachers and instructional support,” said David Smith, assistant superintendent for Business Affairs. “It reflects our commitment to keep dollars in the classroom and focus on our core business.”
The $8 million in cuts EVSC announced earlier this year were made by shutting down buildings, changing insurance plans, freezing administrative pay and a few other moves.
Those cuts have allowed EVSC to shield teachers and student programs, according to corporation officials.
It’s unclear, though, how further state funding cuts would affect the school district.
Corporation officials don’t expect an announcement on additional state cuts until after the Nov. 2 election.
“We are speculating what our revenues are going to be, and after we go through this (budget) process, the state finds out what its revenues are going to be,” board member Mike Duckworth said. “It really leaves us up in the air as far as funding programs and employees.”
EVSC’s proposed capital projects plan includes two construction items that were in the 2010 document but later removed: a gymnasium for Perry Heights Middle School ($2.6 million) and a stadium and school building expansion at Harrison High School ($2.2 million).
Technology is funded at $3.4 million in the capital projects budget. Bertram said about half of all EVSC classrooms this year are outfitted with interactive teaching boards, and the entire district will be covered by the 2011-12 school year.
The district’s debt service for 2011 is about $12.2 million.
School board members said they are pleased with the proposed budget, despite the uncertainty of what more state cuts could mean.
The plan is tentatively scheduled for a vote on Sept. 27.