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Vancouver district announces $2 million in school cuts

By Tom Vogt, Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter
Published: September 27, 2011, 5:00pm

Vancouver Public Schools is starting another round of austerity measures designed to trim about $2 million from the 2011-2012 budget.

Superintendent Steve Webb announced the cost-saving plan at Tuesday’s meeting of the district’s board of directors.

The measures were announced after state budget projections indicated that more cuts to K-12 school funding are likely.

Webb is directing all district and school-level administrators to implement three measures:

-Reduce building and department budgets for non-employee-related costs by 5 percent, where feasible.

-Freeze hiring, and evaluate each position on a case-by-case basis.

-Limit travel.

The biggest share of the immediate savings will likely come from the department and building budget reductions.

“The business office goes to the principals and department heads, and lets them know they have 5 percent less in funding,” said Tom Hagley, the district’s executive director of community and government relations.

It marks the fourth year in a row the district has implemented this sort of immediate cost-saving measures.

“Based on our experience last year, we can anticipate a one-time cost savings of approximately $2 million,” Webb told the school board.

The district’s general fund budget for 2011-12 is $210.6 million.

Vancouver Public Schools already has undergone four years of budget shortfalls totalling $21.2 million in cuts: $6.1 million in 2011-2012; $4.1 million in 2010-2011; $7 million in 2009-2010; and $4 million in 2008-2009.

Things could get even tighter, according to district officials. Gov. Chris Gregoire has called for a 30-day special session of the Legislature beginning Nov. 28 to revise the state’s 2011-2013 budget. The governor is asking lawmakers to cut $2 billion.

The potential impact on Vancouver Public Schools could add up to what Webb called a worst-case scenario of about $10 million in reductions for this school year.

Board member Edri Geiger, who works with state-level officials as a member of the Washington State School Directors’ Association, said discussions in Olympia haven’t been promising.

“They all say to expect more bad news in the next economic forecast,” she said.

And, leaders in the Legislature don’t feel that education took a particularly big hit last time, Geiger said.

Tom Vogt: 360-735-4558 or tom.vogt@columbian.com.

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Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter