Tulsa World: Schools warned more cuts possible

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Schools warned more cuts possible

By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
Published: 10/30/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 10/30/2009 4:43 AM

State school districts could see more cuts as soon as next month, state education officials said Thursday.

The revolving House Bill 1017 fund, which accounts for more than 25 percent of education funding, is nearly empty, said Assistant State Superintendent James White at Thursday's Board of Education meeting.

That news comes as state agencies already are experiencing a 5 percent fiscal-year-long budget cut because of a general budget revenue shortfall, officials said.

"There is no more money in this account; we are strictly relying on collections from now on," White said. "November payments to schools is only reliant on collections that are collected during the month of October.

"There is no more reserve in the 1017 fund."

If school cuts do occur, some districts may be consolidated or closed, White said.

"It's going to be hard to argue that this is not an emergency," White said. "We've started discussions with several school districts about the possibility of not being there next year, and a lot of them are going to have trouble finishing this year."

Since September, the fund has fallen 16 percent below projections, or $26.1 million.

September alone, usually the best month in state revenue collections, saw a $15.9 million shortfall to the fund, White said.

"This is probably the last month (schools) will see only a 5 percent reduction; unless something drastic happens, either collections go up, legislative action, some type of something to get this money up, our schools in November will see more than a 5 percent cut," White said.

The House Bill 1017 fund is a revenue stream included in the 1990 education reform law that overhauled how state schools are funded. The money goes directly to schools' state aid appropriations. The funding comes from a variety of sources, including income, sales and tobacco taxes, although corporate income taxes are the largest contributor to the fund.

It won't be clear until state collections are announced next month how much the overall shortfall will be, White said.

More than a quarter of school funding, around $633 million, is made up of HB 1017 revolving fund money, White said.

"When we see trends coming down of this magnitude, that's alarming," said State Superintendent Sandy Garrett. "It's a big concern. This is a fund we considered more stable."

The effects of further cuts could be disastrous, Garrett said, adding that the Department of Education has asked local school boards to prepare for further cuts.

"Our concerns are: If the general fund revenue is being reduced by 5 percent each month and we potentially have another reduction, we think that will be devastating to our schools," Garrett said. "We just ask them (local school boards) to look very carefully at their budgets and try to protect that teacher in the classroom. But when it's that much of their budget, that's hard to do."

Superintendent Keith Ballard said Tulsa Public Schools has been bracing for deeper cuts in state funding for a while.

"I sounded the alarm a couple of months ago about this and was reassured by the state treasurer that we would be held harmless to 2009 (funding) levels," he said. "The picture is sounding pretty bleak and it could reach a real financial crisis. We are deeply, deeply concerned about the state's ability to do what State Treasurer (Scott) Meacham said he would do."

State student demographic numbers for 2009-10

56 percent white/other
19 percent american Indian
11 percent Hispanic
11 percent black
2 percent asian/Pacific Islander

Tulsa’s enrollment figure surpassed by Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City has the largest school district in the state for the first time, preliminary numbers show.

The district’s enrollment number on Oct. 1 was 42,570, state officials said.

Tulsa’s was 41,493.

Much of the increase was due to an exploding Hispanic population, said State Superintendent Sandy Garrett. Oklahoma City’s student population is 41 percent Hispanic.

The number of Hispanic students in the state also factored into statewide increases.

Oklahoma’s state enrollment numbers grew from 644,777 to 654,511 for the 2009-10 school year, according to state data.

More students enrolled in all-day, pre-K classes also contributed to the growth, Garrett said.

Staff writer Andrea Eger contributed to this story.

Clifton Adcock 581-8462
clifton.adcock@tulsaworld.com By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "More budget cuts ahead for state schools," which was published on 10/29/2009.

	Report Comment irwindale, Tulsa (10/29/2009 2:09:42 PM) We just cannot get a break.
	Report Comment FaithnHim, Crested Butte, (10/29/2009 2:12:56 PM) Excuse me, but I'm not buying the fact we have 'no' dollars to spend on education. Weve got funds but we would rather spend it elsewhere. What about the money from the Casinos? I thought the whole idea behind voting in the casinos was to help the schools. Bunch of BS I guess.
	Report Comment drkdt, (10/29/2009 2:18:30 PM) Cutting police officers AND cutting school budgets. This is not good, is it? We are going to have a society with no law enforcement and bunch of idiots. The government needs to take notice. This is not going to end well. In my family, and probaly most others, when hard times befall us, we cut the non essential expenditures so that we can still keep the things that are most important to us. Why can't our government do that. I think it's unfair to force a 5% cut on everyone. Believe it or not, there are large areas of our government that could stand to be done away with.
	Report Comment Charley, (10/29/2009 2:28:28 PM) Let's fire from the top down, we have plenty of middle management to get the job done???
	Report Comment spirit07, Tulsa (10/29/2009 2:35:20 PM) Get rid of Sand first. She sucks. Been there too long. How does she keep getting elected. Stupid okies. Except me because I never vote for the incumbent.
	Report Comment Teacher For Life, Tulsa (10/29/2009 2:40:53 PM) Not great news but we'll make it. Teachers and Police Officers are constantly looking to do more with less. It seems that almost all employers and employees are facing cuts, so we're no different then any other profession. As Oklahomans we'll rally around each other and continue to do our part in the continued education of the next generation. WE WILL SURVIVE :)
	Report Comment orangecrayon, Tulsa (10/29/2009 2:52:23 PM) FaithnHim, the general public didn't get to "vote" in casinos. Those were established through gaming compacts between the tribes and the state of Oklahoma. Many of the tribes that operate casinos do give a portion of their gaming profits back to education, but it wouldn't be enough to offset a budget cut like this. What you're probably thinking of was the Oklahoma Lottery, which was approved by voters in 2002. Same thing, the money does go back to education, but there's not enough to offset a substantial statewide budget cut. That, and the lottery money that goes towards education is divided between common education (K-12) and higher education.
	Report Comment mubwt2, (10/29/2009 3:05:21 PM) This is sad news. I moved here from Illinois 3 years ago and while Illinois definitely has some serious issues the education programs are vastly superior. One of the most disturbing items I see from area schools is the funding/weight/emphasis on sports over education. When my children moved here (3rd grade and 11th grade respectively) their Oklahoma schools (Tulsa suburb ranked in the top 3) was easily two years behind what they were learning in Illinois. School funding should be priority number one. We love living here and want to see the students of Oklahoma obtain the best possible education.
	Report Comment DrewTU, (10/29/2009 3:11:01 PM) Education isn't a priority here and that's why all the good jobs left town. It should be the #1 priority of all levels of government, and it simply isn't.
	Report Comment hmmm, (10/29/2009 3:14:16 PM) the absolutely worst superintendent in the history of oklahoma. her incompetence crushed our education system and she still stayed in office. A mystery as strange as Roswell itself. Orangecrayon, the general public DID get to "vote" on gambling in general,..the powerball vote, by voting in Gov. Henry. It was the only platform that he ran on. But i think those funds are only for capital expenditures.
	Report Comment TRS, T.B.D. (10/29/2009 3:17:50 PM) When compared to our children, driving home police cars seems pretty petty.
	Report Comment born okay the 1st time, tulsa (10/29/2009 3:28:24 PM) What some dont recognize is the number one killer of the public school system is the No Child Left Behind Act. Horrible horrible program.All schools do anymore is prepare for testing.
	Report Comment Sooner Alum 04, (10/29/2009 3:47:25 PM) Thank MR. BUSH for the 'no child left behind', I for one will say that I regret every day of my life electing that man. We can spend over $10 billion a month in IRAQ but we couldn't improve our education and infrastructure. I'm not OBAMA's biggest fan but he's got ten times the intelligence that Bush ever dreamed of. That's not saying much either..
	Report Comment billw001, Tulsa (10/29/2009 3:59:11 PM) Lottery money? Where is it at?? It was supposed to be millions on top of the regular funding for schools.
	Report Comment But What Do I Know?, (10/29/2009 4:00:49 PM) FOP and OEA. Just coincidence?
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:03:30 PM) Spirit07, catch up, Sandy Garrett announced months ago that she was not running again for Superintendent. It is past time to consolidate all the little school districts across Oklahoma. I think there are around 600 school districts in Oklahoma. Some of the school districts have 350, 460, etc. students. A waste of money to duplicate the same services for each school district. That would save a lot of money.
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:06:26 PM) Irwindale, don't take this personally. Tulsa is not the only city and Oklahoma is not the only state that is having difficulties with funding for their schools. Most all states are having the same problems.
	Report Comment booboomom, tulsa (10/29/2009 4:06:57 PM) have you not heard the radio commercials that say that 35 cents out of every dollar people spend on those lottery tickets goes to the schools. HAHAHA yeah right....more lies and our kids suffer
	Report Comment Justathought, (10/29/2009 4:11:03 PM) Sooner Alum, The quality of education is left to the states, even through the "No Child Left Behind Act." Blame Oklahoma not the federal government when it comes to this, which by the way passed overwhelmingly by congress. Ted Kennedy was one of the bills biggest sponsors. NCLB increased funding to all states in the field of education. This is where you ask yourself, "where has all the money truly gone?"
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:13:11 PM) Oh come on now, Justathought, no confuse Sooner Alum with actual facts, he's still doing the Bush bashing. :-)
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:13:52 PM) oop, *don't confuse
	Report Comment okierose, Tulsa County (10/29/2009 4:24:44 PM) 'Mar, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:03:30 PM) It is past time to consolidate all the little school districts across Oklahoma.' How would you propose to do this? Most 'little school districts across Oklahoma' are far apart from each other. Bus kids from one school to another? Who decides which school? Bus driver, gas, insurance cost go up? Would you want your kid riding for 30 minutes to an hour to another school? Sure there might be cost savings - no electricity on the closed school, things like that. But in my opinion, not enough to warrant closing small schools.
	Report Comment DBJohn, Tulsa (10/29/2009 4:30:39 PM) I am so glad we're finally see the "change" that was promised last year. We pour trillions of dollares into mismanaged financial institutions and auto makers and now we have cuts in service and job loses in our schools, the city and the state.
	Report Comment But What Do I Know?, (10/29/2009 4:56:31 PM) Re: the small school districts. Take a look at the salaries paid to the superintendents of those small school districts. If you haven't done so you will be shocked. I live in a small rural community, my daughter's graduating class was 20, and the superintendent made almost 70 grand, and that was the mid 90's. The small town where I now live has a graduating class of about 60, and the supt. makes just under 100 grand.
	Report Comment Corvetteguy, Tulsa (10/29/2009 5:10:49 PM) Really?,..... Really? I thought that Governor Brad Henry told Oklahoma citizens that if they would vote for the Oklahoma Lottery, it would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into education. Where are those millions, Governor?

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