Schools perched on funding cliff

Teachers, assistant principals and teacher trainers could be laid off for the first time in Omaha Public Schools history.

The layoffs could lead to more elementary classrooms with students of mixed grade levels and to elementary schools losing assistant principals or the trainers who help struggling teachers.

The Omaha school board Monday voted 12-0 to start the process to decide which and how many of its 8,224 employees might lose their jobs over the next two years.

In addition to teachers and assistant principals, teacher aides, bus drivers, food service workers and maintenance staff could be let go.

The district has laid off such workers, called noncertified staff, in tight economic times. But it has not laid off teachers. Instead, OPS has relied on retirements and attrition to eliminate teaching positions when needed.

Superintendent John Mackiel said some cuts will come at the end of the current school year. More will come later, with the disappearance of federal stimulus funding used to fill a state aid gap this year and next.

Mackiel said the goal is to impact students as little as possible. Omaha will not close schools as the Kansas City, Mo., district recently decided, he said. OPS also will not require unpaid time off, or furloughs, because its contracts do not allow that.

Statewide, districts are bracing for the funding “cliff” created by the federal stimulus money pumped into the state budget a year ago to maintain state aid to schools and ward off layoffs while buying time for the economy to improve. Iowa districts also are readying for layoffs.

All indications are the economy is not improving fast enough, said John Bonaiuto, executive director of the Nebraska Association of School Boards. That leaves some other districts in a spot similar to Omaha's.

After losing about 60 students and seeing a $2.4 million reduction in state aid for next year, North Platte Public Schools will probably cut teachers, said Stuart Simpson, the district's business manager.

The district has a budget of $41.7 million and about 4,022 students. Layoffs and furloughs have affected North Platte, a railroad hub.

“There may be some myriad of items we can reduce, but in the end, we will probably be reducing staff in the district,” Simpson said.

The Omaha district is more than 10 times bigger — in both budget and students — but finds itself in the same position.

On Monday, the board passed a resolution that said it would uphold district policies when considering cuts. Mackiel said that includes keeping class sizes low in high-poverty elementary schools, as well as providing those schools with teacher aides. OPS also will continue to add pre-kindergarten classrooms in areas with high needs.

Several board members said they made Monday's decision with heavy hearts. But given the $26.8 million funding gap when the federal stimulus dries up after the 2010-11 school year, “we have no choice,” board President Sandra Jensen said.

“I'm going to cross my fingers and hope the revenue projections will change. I hope the state will look at the (business tax) incentives they have and the rainy day fund,” she said.

But waiting until next year to act would be irresponsible, said Mackiel and Assistant Superintendent Dennis Pool, who oversees the budget. More than 80 percent of the district's general fund goes toward staff salaries and benefits.

A loss of stimulus funds isn't the only problem. Early projections suggest that property tax revenue in the Omaha district will go down, rather than remain flat as district officials had anticipated.

Another issue: More teachers are staying on the job instead of retiring.

At the end of the 2005-06 school year, 95 teachers chose early retirement. This year, 51 did.

People who retired from teaching in 2006 had a better chance of finding another job than their counterparts today, Pool said, leading many staff members to reconsider their retirement plans. That gives the district less wiggle room when trying to cut costs.

In the end, Pool said, “we may have to make some decisions which are fairly dramatic.”

“We're faced with raising taxes, going to Lincoln to try raising state aid or cutting programs. I just don't think we're hearing out of Lincoln or the local taxpayer community that there's any appetite for increased taxes.”

In Iowa, state lawmakers used the majority of federal stimulus funding for this year only, said Chris Bern, president of the Iowa State Education Association.

“We have reached the cliff,” Bern said.

If the Iowa Legislature approves Gov. Chet Culver's budget, school districts will be $170 million short of this year's funding level. Until a state budget is adopted, Iowa superintendents and school board members are planning for “worst-case scenarios,” Bern said.

Some superintendents anticipate no increase in funding, so they're budgeting for the shortfall by handing out pink slips, he said. The Des Moines public school district, for example, plans to lay off 300 teachers, he said.

Nebraska school districts have until April 15 each year to notify staff members that their contracts may not be renewed. If they are not notified, state law says, staffers can assume their contracts are valid for the coming year.

The action the OPS board took Monday allows the district to begin determining who will get those notices. There will likely be more notices issued than layoffs needed.

Just how those cuts are made — and exactly who goes — depends on the position. The Omaha district negotiates with several different unions representing teachers, nurses and counselors, teacher aides, bus drivers and other groups.

World-Herald staff writer Joe Dejka contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com

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