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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Budget crisis worsens for Sisters schools
By Jim Cornelius

Despite a veto override last week that preserved some $250,000 for this school year in Sisters, the district is right back looking at a $500,000 hole in the budget.

That's because state revenue forecasts released this week offer a gloomy picture -- a further shortfall of between $300 and $350 million.

If cuts are made to all state programs across the board, k-12 education would take a $147 million hit. That translates to about $300,000 in Sisters.

"The uncertainty has grown," said school superintendent Steve Swisher.

The Sisters School District has set up three tiers of cuts in case funding falls short of the budget. The district has already initiated $50,000 in cuts through foregoing the purchase of supplies and technology items and conserving on power bills and the like.

Future cuts will mean layoffs of teachers and support staff. Rough calculations by the school board indicated that a worst-case cut would involve three or four teachers and four to six support staff.

That would mean increased class sizes and probable program cuts.

The fate of Sisters school programs also hinges on the outcome of Ballot Measure 19 on the September 17.

Sisters schools have about $150,000 at stake in the election, based on the most current calculations. If the measure passes, schools statewide would be allowed to tap the principal of an "education stability fund" for $150 million.

Sisters, like most schools in Oregon, budgeted based on the assumption that Measure 19 passes. It's failure would trigger cuts.

While Sisters School Board members recognize the need for funding, there are mixed feelings about Measure 19. Several members weighed in at a community forum on Monday, August 26.

While board chairman Jeff Smith said he supports the measure, Steve Keeton said he believes the measure gives legislators a way of dodging their responsibility to provide stable school funding.

"Somehow we've got to make the legislature stand up and do what's right," he said.

Eric Dolson concurred, noting that school funding is now heavily dependent upon lottery funds and tobacco taxes.

"Are we addicting public schools to drugs and gambling?" he said. "I think we have done that and are doing that. And I don't think we should."

Dolson likened the legislature to an addicted personality, "in denial about the seriousness of the problem."

He said, "it's time to get out of denial, face the problem... and fix it with something akin to vision."

The school board delayed the start of school by four days to gain time to assess the situation. If the worst-case scenario develops the district could negotiate to permanently lop the four days off the calendar through the collective bargaining process.

At some $35,000 per day, that could save the district $140,000.

Other districts in Oregon have already cut days.

Sisters residents who attended community forums on the funding crisis last week accepted the school delay, but were concerned about the potential impact of budget cuts that could increase class sizes and reduce programs.

Sisters budget woes, though significant, are nowhere near as bad as they could be. Local option taxes infuse about $680,000 into the district each year. Without those funds, Sisters would now be facing cuts of about $1.2 million from an $8 million budget.

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