Blaine school district seeks input on preliminary 2023-24 budget

Blaine school board held a public hearing on the preliminary 2023-24 budget that drew a few people to ask questions and give feedback on the reduced plan.

Finance director Amber Porter held an hour back-and-forth conversation on the budget with board members and the public during the July 24 hearing. Porter said the final budget will be adopted at the August meeting but the district wanted more feedback.

“Tonight is a nice opportunity to review what we put forth already because I don’t anticipate there being many changes between now and final adoption,” Porter said. “Not big, major structural changes, just some of the smaller details.”

The Blaine school district released its 2023/24 draft budget in mid-July that cuts nearly $3.5 million in spending from last year and reduces the district’s year-end deficit to $2.1 million. The deficit would leave the district with a $2.5 million general fund balance.

The district is working to balance its fund balance after last year’s budget forecast projected that the district could have a $14 million deficit by 2026 if expenses exceed revenues at the current rate. The reduced budget eliminates 59.5 positions, 50 of which would be layoffs and the others would be employees leaving the district on their own, The Northern Light previously reported.

Salaries make up about 85 percent of the general fund expenses, which pay for the school district’s daily operations, Porter said.

Porter handed audience members a detailed list of the staff reductions and how each reduction is anticipated to impact the schools. Such reductions include paraprofessionals, nurses, library staff, custodians, administrative staff, math support teachers and elective classes.

The impacts are anticipated to be felt across the district campus, from primary students only receiving music once per week to increasing fourth grade class sizes. Student behavior concerns were a common theme among the reductions.

Some cuts will be absorbed by current staffing levels, while other programs will be more strained, Porter said.

“If I could project, based on the reductions that we had already itemized, I don’t believe that all of them are going to be easy to support in real life,” she said. “In reality, when we have real people and real programs working, sometimes a management choice doesn’t play out well.”

The district has experienced enrollment decline since the 2019/20 school year, and Porter said the district wasn’t yet sure if it was at the bottom of the decline. Superintendent Christopher Granger said kindergarten enrollment was looking optimistic at 80-85 percent of the targeted amount for the school year.

The school district has been collecting the annual one percent increase of the regular maintenance and operations levy that the state allows, Porter said. The current maintenance and operation levy will need to be approved by voters in 2024.

During the hearing, Porter asked the public for feedback on their priorities for positions they want to be reinstated, if future funding allows, and areas that require additional resources. Additional feedback can be emailed to Porter at aporter@blainesd.org.

“The principals and department heads all recognize that doing more with less continues to be a challenge,” Granger said. “As resources potentially become available, what are the priorities they want added back that will support students being successful in the classroom setting?”