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School budget picture looks good
By Jim Cornelius

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Local option taxes approved by Sisters voters last November are shoring up the budget of the Sisters School District.

Using an estimated $450,000 in local option taxes, along with a $217,876 state "school improvement grant," the school district expects to hire new teachers to reduce student-teacher ratios to around 20-1 in kindergarten through third grade.

The district plans to knock fourth and fifth grade class sizes from around 30 students down to 24 students; and set ratios at 25-1 in the middle and high school grades.

The school district has started budgeting for next year, using a $5.22 billion figure proposed by Governor John Kitzhaber.

Unlike in previous legislative sessions, where the legislature has seriously challenged the governor's education budget proposal, the legislature seems likely to approve something very close to that target.

"It appears that there is bi-partisan support for that number," said schools superintendent Steve Swisher.

However, there is a debate over whether $50 million in federal grants for special education should be counted in the $5.22 billion. That, Swisher said, could create a swing of about $150,000 in the Sisters budget.

The Sisters School District is working with a revenue projection of $7,740,494.

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Enrollment is the biggest variable in the budgeting process, since state school funding is formulated on a weighted per-student basis. Sisters' enrollment is stable and appears to be growing slightly across the district.

Though the budget appears far more solid than it has in recent years, thanks to local option funds, Swisher notes that the district still has maintenance and equipment needs that it can't afford to pay for.

Swisher has long advocated for building up emergency cash reserves for the district, which have been reduced to $80,000.

"I want to try to get to $150,000, but I don't know if we can get there yet," he said.

Swisher noted that co-curricular programs have taken cuts, with many programs required to fund themselves. According to Swisher, there is a strong impetus to try to restore coaches salaries and other funding for programs as cash becomes available.

"I think the community's call would be to preserve as many programs and activities as possible," the superintendent said. "It's horribly difficult to cut things to build a cash reserve."

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The school budget committee will meet through the next to months and will present a budget at the end of June.

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