Saturday, November 21, 2009

RR School Cuts Mean Classes Will Be Bigger

By Elaine D. BriseÑO
Copyright © 2009 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
          A Rio Rancho school district official says the biggest impact of state budget cuts will be felt in the classroom as teachers grapple with larger class sizes.
        The district is not planning any layoffs.
        Last week, Gov. Bill Richardson approved a 2 percent cut to school district operational budgets across the state in an effort to plug the state's revenue gap. The cuts came as no surprise, but the districts were not aware of how much they would need to trim until the governor gave the official word.
        The directive means Rio Rancho Public Schools must trim $1.98 million from its nearly $100 million operating budget.
        Richard Bruce, chief operations officer for RRPS, said the district will make up for the cuts by decreasing district office department budgets by $53,000 and moving more than $700,000 from cash reserves. Bruce said the state's agreement to pay for property insurance will mean a reimbursement of about $619,000. Additionally, the district will receive extra revenue from the state to cover its growth. It will use $600,000 of that money to make up the nearly $2 million deficit.
        Bruce said the district typically uses growth money to hire new teachers. Much of that money will still go toward that purpose, but the district won't hire as many teachers as it would like.
        Bruce said that means more students in a classroom.
        In years past, Rio Rancho has been able to hire enough teachers so that each class has room for a few more students. However, he said this year the courses are full, and some exceed the state's limit for class size. He said the district has filed waivers, where necessary, for the larger class sizes.
        The district looked at several scenarios before presenting ideas to the school board. Bruce said the district is opposed to layoffs and is not looking at any scenario that includes layoffs.
        "We are committed to keeping our staff, because we have a wonderful staff," he said. "It's hard to build that back up. The best thing we can do for the community is keep people employed."
        Bruce said there may be some relief for the crowded classrooms in the spring.
        RRPS' 40th-day enrollment figures showed that the district had grown by 601 students compared with last year. Bruce said the district is expecting $2.9 million more because of its increased student enrollment figures. Of that money, the district has already spent $600,000 to hire more teachers.
        However, Bruce said the district does not want to hire more teachers yet because it's bracing itself for the possibility of more cuts when the Legislature meets again early next year.
       

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