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School board considers moves to save money

JANESVILLE — The 2008-09 budget is balanced, but the Janesville School Board is considering ways to save money in the future, including consolidating special education programs or paying debt early.

“Even though we have a balanced budget, I feel it is our charge as a board to take on the tough questions,” Board President DuWayne Severson said. “We have to see what impact (a balanced budget) will be next year and the year after that.”

One of the questions addressed at Monday’s meeting was how the school district could reduce costs in special education to make up for less money from state and federal reimbursement.

“The long and short is neither the federal nor the state governments have kept their pledge to fund (special education) programs,” Superintendent Tom Evert said.

Comptroller Lori Clifton said the federal government reimburses about 12 percent of the cost of special education and the state reimburses about 28 percent. Originally, the federal government pledged to reimburse 40 percent. The state had reimbursed 70 percent before dropping to its current level, Evert said.

Board member Lori Stottler suggested the board and the school district take a stronger legislative approach to get state and federal governments to reimburse more.

Severson questioned how much the district would save by consolidating of special education services.

Karen Schulte, director of student services, said all 22 schools have special education programs but said special education students should be in the least restrictive environment. Moving them to a central location within the district might jeopardize that guideline and spur equality issues.

“I just want to look and see if we can save by moving and consolidating (special education) students to 16 or 17 schools, but yet still meet the spirit of the law,” Severson said. “What are the savings? What are the plusses and minuses?”

Fellow board member Peggy Sheridan expressed her concern that consolidation would affect families’ goals to make their special education student as “normal as possible.”

Board member Bill Sodemann brought up the issue of debt service.

He proposed the board consider using a portion of the fund balance to pay down debt from previous referenda.

He said paying down $2.3 million in bonds coming due in 2012 and 2013 would save the district $582,600 in interest this year and a similar amount in subsequent years. Such savings would net nearly a 2 percent reduction on the debt service tax levy.

There were some concerns that using the surplus fund balance for debt relief now could leave the district high and dry in the future.

“I’m just scared we might be too aggressive with how much we retire debt and have nothing to move forward with,” Stottler said.

Sodemann said a shaky economy and making Janesville a more tax-friendly school district might benefit to the district.

“People in Janesville face economic uncertainties,” he said. “This is a critical time to take action to make Janesville an attractive place.”