Posted: Jan. 19, 2010

Greendale — It's highly unlikely the school district will ask voters a third time for extra money to fund operations.

Following Superintendent William Hughes recommendation, all five members of the School Board said Monday they do not support another operational referendum.

Greendale residents in 2000 and again in 2004 approved a $550,000 operational referendum. When approved, the referendums allow the district to exceed state-imposed revenue caps and gather a specific amount of additional taxes over a specific time period.

The Greendale operational referendum is set to expire June 30.

Factoring in the economy

Hughes and board members said they talked with many in the community and, citing the bad economic climate and rising unemployment rate, the consensus was to not pursue another referendum, at least for now.

"Now is not the environment to be going out to referendum," board member Joe Crapitto said. "We are seeing signs of improvement but it's not taking hold."

The discussion will continue, however, and the board may revisit the topic as the year goes along, Hughes said.

Making up the difference

In the meantime, the district will have to figure how to compensate for the revenue loss. The cost-cutting wheels have already been set in motion.

The district's budget committee will begin prioritizing more than $600,000 worth of reductions and will plan for a scenario in which they would need to make more.

District administrators asked for and received the resignation of High School Associate Principal Gina Wilkins. The resignation is part of a plan to restructure administrative duties.

Personnel costs are by far the biggest part of any school district's budget. In Greendale, it accounts for more than 75 percent.

The district will work with the Greendale teachers' union to find cost savings in contract language so that money can be redeployed to save teaching positions, according to a report to School Board members.

"The board's going to have to take a harder stand with the (Greendale Education Association) and look for some concessions," Hughes said, "and at the same time, you may have to make a concession. … To win big, you're going to have to give something big."

Another lingering revenue concern

If the district doesn't seek a new referendum, it could end up facing two categories of lost revenue.

Hughes noted the state's budget woes could very well trickle down to school districts again this year. State aid was cut to Greendale by 3.4 percent last year while neighboring districts faced double-digit percentage cuts.

In a broader sense, the loss of the extra money for operations is going to mean a "transformation" in the way the district operates, Hughes and board members said.

At least partly because of the state's funding formula for schools, a sea change would be needed anyway. But as school officials and community members move forward, the entire school system will be under examination.

"It's really about doing things differently," Hughes said. "It's going to be the ability to move the school district into a completely different kind of delivery system of learning for youth, and what schools are going to provide and how that's going to look."