Although the student population is somewhat steady at the local high school, declining enrollments and revenue around the district are pushing it toward increasing class sizes in grades four and up. The result is fewer teachers, 2.5 teachers fewer at Homer High.
With a half-time library position cut, as well as a Spanish teacher and physical education teacher, the class structure for Homer High will change dramatically, Keffer said. While on the average students will be in classes of around 24 students, class schedules don't always work out that way. Some classes may be substantially bigger, and teachers will be asked to fill an increasing number of holes left by the cut positions, the principal said.
"It gets more and more difficult," Keffer said. "I think parents in Homer are going to find serious changes at Homer High next year."
Keffer's remarks came at the end of a rather dismal report from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Chief Financial Officer Melody Douglas in which Douglas outlined the $2.9 million hole in the district's budget.
While some of the money will be made up by cutting reserve budgets, Douglas said, the district will still have at least a $1.5 million budget gap to fix before presenting the budget to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly.
"I happen to know there is hardly anything left on the budget," Douglas said.
While Douglas did not address the issue of potential school closures, the idea was one of several presented by a budget review committee. Small schools, such as the Russian village schools and the Hope school, are expensive, the district has said in the past, and with declining enrollment leaving some schools with many fewer students than they were designed to hold, the consolidation idea comes up.
Other ideas suggested by the committee were cuts to cocurricular activities, including eliminating coaching stipends, asking cities or the borough to take over some athletic programs, or funding the programs through nonprofit fund-raising activities, such as pull-tabs.
The district is also looking at alternative staffing ideas, including contracting out some teacher and school administrator duties, consolidating maintenance and custodial services, and having principals or assistant principals absorb the athletic and activity director duties.
Other ideas presented were offering lecture classes in auditoriums, reviewing programs like the home-school Connections program, and even the idea of varying the school year and work week.
Douglas said the district has long struggled with the state funding formula, which appropriates around $4,010 per student.
"In my opinion, it should be more like $4,500," Douglas said.
Some relief may come from a recently released comparative costs study, (See related story, this page.) but Douglas and others said the state needs to increase its funding formula this year as well.
The district, however, won't know if that increase is coming until the 11th hour in the budget process, so it must move forward with a balanced budget on the assumption that no new funds will be approved. While some questioned that process, Douglas said she would rather have all the time she can get to lobby legislators for more funds than receive less funding earlier.
In past years, the budget has been passed with reductions, based on the assumption that the cuts would be restored when more funds came from the state.
Keffer noted that while the district often releases winter reports on the dismal nature of the upcoming budget, this year's situation was more severe.
"Some might think it's the district office crying wolf," Keffer said. "But this year it's a whole lot worse."
Douglas agreed and encouraged parents concerned with the larger class sizes and potential for more cuts to get involved and make recommendations.
"We've been at this situation for a number of years, and it's getting to the point where there's not much left to do," Douglas said. "It's going to be a challenge. Hopefully, you folks have good ideas to take forward to the board. I do not envy their position."
Carey James can be reached at cjames@homer
news.com.
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