Arizona education cuts no shock to rez

 

T he state of Arizona has reduced funding for its education programs by nearly $120 million. For Navajo Nation public schools, that equals about $4.86 million in cuts.

The state, which is addressing a $1.6 billion revenue shortfall, announced the cuts earlier this month with Senate Bill 1006, which passed Feb. 6.

The cuts include $98,198,000 for base support in education programs. The state also cut an additional $21 million in soft capital allocation - money meant for textbooks.

Among school districts, only the smallest were spared cuts. The formula affects schools with more than 600 students in either K-8 or 9-12 grade levels, so districts like Red Mesa and Cedar went untouched.

For the most part, local schools have been preparing for such cuts for months.

"Cuts are coming throughout the state and 48 percent of the state budget goes to education," said Thomas Jackson, Window Rock Unified School District superintendent. "The handwriting was on the wall."

Ariz. spending cuts by district Arizona state Senate Bill 1006, which became law Jan. 31, makes the following cuts in state funding to public school districts that serve large numbers of Navajo children: Apache County: Chinle, $475,234; Ganado, $237,646; Sanders, $78,635; and Window Rock, $339,856. Coconino County: Flagstaff, $1,475,190; Page, $390,932; and Tuba City, $263,785. Navajo County: Holbrook, $252,121; Kayenta, $274,789; Piñon, $109,298; Show Low, $331,512; and Winslow, $294,815. Very small districts including Red Mesa and Cedar would be exempt from the cuts.

Like many districts, Window Rock, which was cut by $339,856, stopped filling vacant positions last fall in an effort to curb spending. So, as some employees left the district - including safety director Stewart Calnimptewa - they weren't replaced.

This includes about six positions in security and several maintenance spots, Jackson said.

The district also cut down on unnecessary travel among personnel and within the district's board of directors.

"We built our budget this year conservatively," Jackson said.

Despite the cuts, the district still managed to fit in salary increases for qualified staff, he said.

In the end, the district managed to absorb the cuts with no effect to the classroom, he said.

Damage control

The same could be said in most reservation districts. In Chinle, the $475,234 budget cut is only a fraction of the district's $30 million budget.

Chinle also started curbing spending last year, said Quincy Natay, assistant superintendent for business, and is feeling no additional pain now.

"We're not really seeing anything," he said. "Everything is business as usual."

Natay said his district started saving money in December by not filling some positions as they became vacant.

Both districts, like most others on the reservation, also have cash reserves in Impact Aid funding, federal money given to schools on trust land to compensate for the lack of funds generated from property taxes.

The state places a spending limit on school districts, but almost never provides all the funds allowed, leaving districts to find this remaining money on their own. Locally, that means Impact Aid money.

In fact, it is routine that school districts plan ahead, keeping federal funds in reserve.

"That type of budgeting is normal," said Peter Belletto, superintendent of the Red Mesa School District. "It's something that most business managers should do routinely: Use at least three-year projections."

However, such is not the case for all districts. Ganado reportedly has had to slash its budgets in the past month, including canceling all but varsity-level sport programs for the remainder of the school year.

Superintendent Deborah Jackson-Dennison said the reason it that its Impact Aid reserves are not available to cover the funding shortfall because they are earmarked to pay off a 15-year bond used to construct the Ganado Sports Pavilion.

Other districts have so far managed to avoid the same fate. Natay said the Wildcat Den, the district's sports coliseum in Chinle, was financed up front from Impact Aid reserves on hand at the time.

Window Rock, which has scheduled a March 10 election for a bond to construct its own sports pavilion, but it differs from what Ganado did. Ganado voters approved a plan that obligated all Impact Aid monies, including those that could have been used for the district's operating budget.

Window Rock's bond issue, by contrast, would only tie up the Impact Aid money that is designated for capital improvements. It would not affect reserves available to fund maintenance and operations, Jackson said.

However, except for the cut in sports programs and a similar cut in transportation, Ganado's strategy of a hiring freeze and cuts in non-essential spending seems similar to the district's neighbors.

Stimulus may help

Arizona's budget problems came as no surprise to most school districts - they could be seen almost a year in advance.

Last spring, for instance, the state withheld its final payment to school districts, releasing it in the fall instead of the spring.

This strategy - waiting to make a payment until the coffers were filled with the following year's funds - was the state's effort to keep its books balanced during a shortfall. For school districts, it was a one-time trick that signaled tougher times ahead.

"What we've been projecting is approximately $3 million less to run Window Rock Schools next year," Jackson said.

Likewise, Natay said the Chinle district was projecting a $4.3 million cut next year.

However, such projections may no longer be necessary.

"A lot of that is not really going to happen," Natay said.

Natay theorizes that the $787 billion federal stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama last week will go to at least partly offset the state's massive budget shortfall.

"It's supposed to cover us this year and the next two years," Natay said.

Still, that doesn't mean other districts are out of the storm.

There are still several budget-cutting initiatives are likely to affect reservation schools. For instance, one plan is to cut the budgets of districts that spend more than 9.5 percent of their budgets on administrative costs.

In Window Rock, where administrative costs take up 12 percent of the budget, this could mean lost positions.

"It's a good goal," Jackson said of the state's initiative to ensure that more money is spent in the classroom. "But people don't realize what it costs to put services into the classroom. It sounds good politically."

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