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District official: current budget limits make reducing class sizes unaffordable
Summary
An unidentified district staff member told a public forum that reducing class sizes would cost about $3 million and that limited state funding, legislative mandates and other budget pressures mean the district cannot pay for that reduction now.
An unidentified district staff member said reducing class sizes in the district would require roughly $3,000,000 and that current revenue limits make that reduction unaffordable at this time.
The staff member, speaking during remarks about a visit to Westlake Junior High, said the district's weighted pupil unit (WPU) — the primary state funding mechanism — is expected to increase by about $16,000,000 this year, roughly a 4% increase. The staff member said that amount is small relative to the district's nearly $850,000,000 budget and must cover cost-of-living adjustments, step-and-lane salary increases and rising insurance and other costs.
"Class sizes are very important, and I hate to diminish that," the staff member said. He gave the district's current staffing ratios as 28.25 for secondary schools and 27.25 for elementary schools and explained how the district converts student counts into full-time-equivalent teacher allocations. He said reducing the elementary ratio by one student, from 27.25 to 26.25, would cost about $3,000,000 districtwide.
The staff member also cited additional expense pressures tied to recent legislation and state security mandates. He said implementation of "HB 84 last year" would cost the district about $100,000,000 and that ongoing costs to meet current state security requirements run between $8,000,000 and $10,000,000 annually. "That doesn't take into consideration inflation or anything," he added.
Because the new WPU revenue must cover existing salary-related obligations and other mandated costs, the staff member said there is little remaining funding to lower class sizes now. He said the board is facing the possibility of a tax increase this spring to address legislative mandates, and that the district is "looking to cut some personnel and push some of those resources down to the school level" to adjust to a declining student population.
The speaker framed the remarks as explanatory rather than a final decision. He said he expects to provide updated budget numbers to the Board of Education once legislative outcomes are clearer and said he would return to explain options for balancing the budget.
No formal board action or vote on class-size changes was recorded in the transcript provided.
