WEATHERSFIELD Schools: We've cut to bones

If the levy fails, the district will have to borrow money.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield School District treasurer told the school board the district has made as many cuts as it can to keep the schools operating.
The school board will try for the fourth time Nov. 2 to persuade voters to pass the 5.5-mill, five-year emergency levy to generate $558,680 a year.
A cash balance of $416,605 is expected in fiscal year 2005, which will be enough to cover about two payrolls, board member Bruce Bacak said.
Angela Lewis, district treasurer, told the board Wednesday night it would have to start borrowing from local banks at that point to meet cash-flow needs.
She said the district lost $107,000 in revenue last year to community schools and will lose an estimated $141,000 to them this year.
The issue about whether RMI Titanium will receive a refund from the district is still not resolved and not figured into the budget.
Lewis told the board the district has been able to squeak through in 2002, 2003 and 2004, adding: "We'll be able to squeak out another year [2005]. There's just not enough to sneak by after that."
Though she projects a $416,605 balance in fiscal year 2005, a one-month payroll is between $340,000 and $360,000.
Bacak said, "I hope the people know where we sit and give us a 'yes' vote" on the levy.
Lewis said seeking levy approval "really isn't to bring back a lot. This will help us bring back busing; everything else will stay pared down."
Board president Douglas Darnall said, "The biggest problem is the state won't fund Ohio schools. Imagine what this district will have if we have to borrow money from the state. If we do, it has to be repaid in two years."
Statistics
Giving comparative figures, Lewis said that her previous five-year forecast in May for fiscal year 2005 showed a balance of $348,456 in 2005. That is now projected at $416,605.
By 2008, the initial projected deficit was $2.3 million, and in the latest forecast, it is $2.18 million.
The return of full-scale busing is a guarantee the board will keep if the levy passes. Busing has been cut to state minimums, which permits picking up only students in kindergarten through eighth grade who live two miles or more from school.
Superintendent Michael Hanshaw said he wants to have a plan in place so that if the levy passes Nov. 2, by the following Monday, full-scale busing will start up again. The district had nine drivers; if the levy passes, it will have six or seven.
Restoring busing is expected to cost the district an additional $30,000.
Hanshaw added, "I don't want to see any more academic cuts. We have large class sizes now."
He explained that if the levy passes, academic cuts will stay as they are. Lewis said she has budgeted $80,000 in the next two years to begin a rotation for replacing books again if the levy passes.