By Joshua Cole
Different factors combined have forced Littleton Public Schools to cut $15 million in three years – with $7.5 million less in the 2010-11 budget compared with a year earlier. Further cuts are expected next school year, which some estimate could be $12 million in Littleton.
With continued cutting, the district is almost on a skeleton crew, and options are more and more limited to save costs and generate more revenue. Thus, the district’s last option is a $12 million mill levy increase being floated to voters this fall.
The mill levy increase isn’t expected to increase many programs, only stop the loss.
“We don’t have many choices,” said LPS Superintendent Scott Murphy. “Companies can reduce inventory. We really don’t get rid of kids. They are who we serve.”
Voters in Littleton and western Centennial will decide in this fall’s election about giving LPS $12 million per year, which would be about $6 per month or $72 per year in taxes per $100,000 of assessed property value.
Currently, LPS ranks sixth among 10 metro area districts in property tax levies, which include bonds like in Cherry Creek Schools. If the mill levy increase passes, LPS would leapfrog to second in the number of mills.
The district is prevented from asking for any more money than it is, and asking for less may force the district to ask again in a couple of years, according to LPS.
“We just didn’t feel like we could wait another year to do this,” said LPS Board President Bob Colwell. “This money will not bring a whole lot of things back. This will keep us at the level we have.”
If the mill levy passes, LPS would be the first district to have one-quarter of its budget paid for by the mill levy. Voters passed mill levy increases in 2004 and 1997, a combined $11.5 million. Before this year, the district has had elections for money 16 times in about 100 years, never losing. Every election where election results are known passed with more than 60 percent approval except in 1997, a $5 million mill levy increase that passed by a 54-46 percent margin.
Following the money: Out
For nearly two decades, LPS has been losing students due to declining enrollment. This nicked the budget a little each year. As the number of students, especially in the elementary schools, kept declining, the district was forced to close two elementary schools and move the students from those schools to other places in the district.
When the recession hit, though, the state rescinded school budgets a greater amount, making a slow roll down the hill almost like an out-of-control stumble.
Many other budget-saving or revenue-generating suggestions have either been done and can’t be increased, or they can’t be done, according to LPS.
Most of the money from Race to the Top would go to poor, under-performing schools and districts, so LPS would see a pittance. Or initiatives encouraged by Race to the Top might actually cost LPS more if the district has to integrate requirements and assessments that conflict with the district’s own, officials said.
“We have an acronym DILL: Do It Like Littleton,” Colwell said.
Littleton’s technology use is nationally recognized, not only for the work students are doing but also for the low costs, Murphy said.
Salaries compose about 80 percent of the budget, and it’s already been negotiated low. The district ranks second-lowest in teacher salary ladder, and administrative costs have been shaved to the skin. Although teachers in LPS are loyal and have shown a willingness to stay despite a lower pay scale, this trend is in trouble. Many of the reasons teachers have stayed in LPS – including small class sizes, supportive mentors and teammates, engaged parents, a plethora of community volunteers and a diversity of activities – are in trouble, especially the class sizes and activities.
Even though the district was top in the state last year for academic achievement, the district is basically running on fumes. Activities and special programs, including art and music, have separated the district from others, helping recruit enrollment, engaging students and, as studies have shown, probably leading to increased student achievement and performance in core subjects. Yet, they have been reduced and face additional cuts if nothing else is done. Parents already took a 50 percent pay increase for high school athletic fees in 2009-10, bringing the total to $150, which is among the highest in the metro area. The district pays for about half of high school and middle school activities costs, while the rest comes from fund raising and fees.
Many quality teachers, whose added years of experience is often touted as the greatest factor in improving student achievement, have been forced out because there isn’t enough room in the budget to keep everyone. Due to having to cut teachers, the district can’t hire many new ones – and the federal teacher jobs bill only delays a fraction of the cuts for another year. Teacher salaries were practically cut by 1 percent this year due to district furlough days. More than 400 staff was cut in the last two years.
Meanwhile, class sizes are increasing, in some places 50 percent, so instead of 23 or 24 classmates for Jennifer in elementary school, or 26 or 27 classmates for James in middle school, Jennifer would likely have 26 or 27 other classmates in one room, and James would likely have about 35 or more classmates in middle or high school. Although the impact of class size is a complicated matrix, there is a significant difference when elementary schools are closer to 30 students and middle schools and high schools are near 35 and 40 students, especially compared with elementary schools in the low 20s and middle and high schools in the high 20s.
“Some people disagree with state tests and test scores. When they’re really good, we think they’re the best tests in the world. And we did good on them this year,” Murphy said.
Four-day school weeks, which some rural districts tried this year, isn’t practical in a metropolitan area because working parents are at their jobs five days per week and high school athletics run all week as well.
There isn’t a demand for charters beyond the two that the district has, Littleton Academy and Littleton Prep, and creating charters without demand is dangerous, Murphy said.
Out-of-district students compose nearly 20 percent of the population, and recruitment to get their per-pupil funding is already active and a high priority, but reducing activities and increasing class sizes would negatively impact their decision to leave a home district.
LPS has made money merging specific services like technology and food services with Sheridan, and LPS saves money with cooperative bidding. Beyond that, such as merging with nearby districts Sheridan or Englewood would be detrimental to the LPS budget.
“This is really a community decision. This dialogue is important. I don’t blame any way which way you vote,” Murphy said. “We know what the impact is. We’re all going to have to make difficult decisions.”
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josh@villagerpublishing.com, 303-773-8313 ext. 301
