Elementary school closures and a six-period day for middle schools are two changes the Shoreline School District is considering to regain financial balance in 2007-08.
A committee of teachers, parents, community members and district officials began meeting last week to craft a recommendation on how to cut at least $2 million from the 2007-08 budget. The district is estimated to end the 2006-07 fiscal year about $1.8 million in the red.
The committee will meet for three months, then hand a recommendation to the Shoreline School Board, which will accept or modify it.
“Our goal is to not further impact the educational program in the classrooms,” said Marcia Harris, deputy superintendent.
The district is trying to reach a balanced budget by the end of the 2007-08 school year, she said.
In addition to possible school closures and revising the middle school day, the committee also will consider adding sixth grade to the current seventh-eighth grade middle school configuration. That would mean three middle schools instead of the current two, said Harris.
“What does that do and what are the costs associated with that?” she said, posing a question the committee will discuss.
In contrast, closing elementary schools would mean fewer schools.
“We have very small elementary schools: Our average enrollment is under 400,” Harris said.
But overhead costs remain the same regardless of the number of pupils, she said.
“If you have fewer schools, you have fewer costs: Every elementary school has a principal for instance, and a librarian and a nurse,” Harris said.
If the school board voted to close schools, a separate committee would be formed to discuss school boundaries and how to make the closures happen, Harris said.
The committee will meet 5-7 p.m. every other Wednesday until the first week in January in room D105 at Shoreline Center. The next meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 18.
The public is invited to listen, but there will be no public comment period.
“We have a very energetic, thoughtful committee that’s been put together,” Harris said. “It’s very balanced in terms of community members, teachers, PTA, parents and administration.”
At the Oct. 16 school board meeting, district officials will present the board with a demographic study on enrollments in the district. The study also projects the size of future middle and high school enrollments.
As for other ways to save money, district officials are doing a separate study on the district’s self-balancing programs, which include Shoreline Children’s Center and conference services. These programs are supposed to pay for themselves. The study will examine if they do that and a report will be ready in November.
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