The Four-Period Day

There has been a lot of discussion related to the future of the four-period day at OHS.  At this time, there has been no decision related to its future beyond the coming school year.  The four period day was first implemented at OHS in the early 1990's.  It may come as a surprise to some, but at the time of its implementation, it was a fairly controversial topic and not particularly popular among faculty.  The benefits are primarily found in programs that contain 'lab' experiences and by students who want to participate in more than one of our music programs or who seek additional courses. In order to accommodate multiple music opportunities, 'skinnies' had to be created in certain instructional areas. Skinnies are classes that meet for only half of the normal length of the period (84 minutes).  But the four-period day schedule is also one of the most inefficient models for staffing teachers.  When it was implemented here, more than four (4) additional instructors needed to be hired.  That is the reason why more schools did not choose to implement this schedule (we're the only school in the Big Nine to have one) when so many schools made that change in the 90's. 

Now, because of the inefficient nature of this scheduling model, many schools across the state have switched away from this schedule and  are finding ways to accommodate the desire for students to participate in more than one music class as well as maintain a broad array of classroom opportunities.  Looking beyond the coming year, OHS will continue to look at some of those scheduling alternatives to see what  might work best for our high school.  However, if the four-period day remains viable given future staffing levels at OHS, there will be no need to change.    

Creating New Alternatives for Our Schools

There have been a number of questions regarding just how(if) we can afford to implement new programs such as the 'Options' program at OHS and Inquiry and STEM in our K-8 schools during these difficult economic times.  Simply stated, is this the right time?  All of the new programs mentioned above began with  special funding that we received from the federal stimulus program known as ARRA (American Recovery and Reconstruction Act).  The district chose at that time to utilize those funds, along with existing funds in the capital and staff development budgets to research design and implement educational best practices that supported the changing needs of our learners preparing for the 21st century work place.  A simple breakdown of funding sources for these initiatives can be found in the slide presentation on the district website entitled, "Budget Planning: Recommendations for Board Planning" .

Virtually all of the funding needed for research and design were borne by these special funds.  Now as we move forward with full implementation, funds for training as well as for room modifications, furniture and fixtures will come from either existing staff development funds and/or capital funds.  Using  our capital funds to support these programs necessitates establishing priorities in areas such as technology acquisition and building upgrades and repair.  These funds cannot be used for staffing purposes and, therefore, are not able to off-set proposed reductions.  Staff development funds have been historically reserved for faculty and staff training and, like capital funds, could not be used for staffing purposes.  Up through this year, even though districts were given flexibility by the state legislature to use these funds for staffing purposes, we have continued to dedicate their use for training; including leadership and inquiry.  The proposed reductions for the coming year, however, do recommend that those funds are to be used for staffing.  This is the primary reason for the proposal to reduce the number of student days for one year. 

The Future of the Gifted and Talented Program

One of the savings in the proposal to reduce our budget is the elimination of our current 2.5 FTE's (full-time equivalent) in our gifted and talented program.  The district receives approximately $65K in state funding to provide programs and services to young learners with special gifts.  Historically, we have spent well over that amount.  The funds that we receive will continue to be dedicated to meeting the needs of these learners.  As the implementation of  both 'Inquiry' and 'Leadership' continue to develop and evolve in our K-8 programs next year, materials and supplies that align with these two approaches, and, that are specifically designed for the 'G/T' student, will be obtained and incorporated into the classroom setting.    

Shortened School Year For Students

The board is being asked to consider shortening the school year for students by eight days for the coming year.  This proposal is for one-year only.  The reduction in student days will save the district approximately $15K per day.  These savings come from reduced costs in transportation, energy, teacher 'substitute days' and other personnel related costs.  These days will be used for teacher training that is typically conducted either during the school day or after school hours; pulling teachers out of the classroom and/or compensating them for the additional time. The net result is an estimated additional savings of up to $200,000.  These combined savings are being used to minimize the number of faculty and staff layoffs and keeping as many programs and services intact as possible. 

Recognizing the loss of instructional time, building principals are taking a careful look at how they currently schedule students.  Non-instructional activities that occur during the school day will be eliminated and/or greatly curtailed to reduce the actual loss of student/teacher contact time.

Projecting the Budget into the Future

Looking into the future, and projecting exactly what our school budget will look like is a difficult task.  Assumptions must be made about such things as, i) our student enrollment- will it increase or decrease, ii) state funding- will it increase above inflation levels or remain flat, iii) costs- of labor contracts [currently about 75% of our budget] and more.  Presently, our expenditures exceed our revenues by approximately $2M annually and the reductions that are being proposed help to off-set that deficit.  However, because of the recent history of 'flat funding' from the state, we will continue to show deficits into the future unless we make adjustments to the budget as the costs associated with operating schools continue to rise.  As you might imagine, schools across the state are facing these very same issues and are addressing the gap in similar ways. 

District Financial Condition

We're entering a difficult period of time in our planning for the next school year. Budgets are tight and we need to make real reductions in expenditures currently being planned for the coming school year. For those who would like very detailed information related to our budget, there are a number of sources that you can refer to on our web page. A synopsis of our budget can be found by clicking on 'What's New' in the front page of our website and opening up the 'Proposed Budget Reductions for FY'13. For a more detailed look at our budget, you can access and view a comprehensive budgeting plan for this year by clicking on the District Services and pulling down Finance Operations. On this page, you'll find listed on the left hand side both our Finance Reports as well as our Audits. Click on either of these pages and you'll be able to see first hand the many sources of district revenue as well as the many categories of expenditures.   

Proposal To Reduce Our FY'13 Budget

We face a very difficult challenge to reduce our budget by as much as $1.8M for the coming school year. When over 75% of the budget is directed toward programs and services, it is virtually impossible to make a reduction of that size and not impact one or both. At its meeting on Monday, February 27th, the school board was presented with a proposal that would reach that targeted amount. The proposal called for a reduction in the workforce. It also contained a set of recommendations related to shifting the use of funds from one budget 'source' to another. Public school finance is, unfortunately, a fairly complex system that defines and limits the use of funds we receive from the state. For example, technology, desks and textbooks typically are funded out of our 'capital' fund. We receive these funds from the state and cannot use them for things such as staffing. On the other hand, we receive special funds for staff development which are intended to be devoted to training. Because the legislature recognized the difficult economic times, schools are now allowed to use those funds in other areas of the budget. This is something that the proposal is recommending that we do as a means of reducing the number of faculty and staff layoffs. Finally, the proposal recommends the reduction, for one year only, in the number of days our students are in school. The intention of this recommendation is to provide our faculty with an opportunity to be fully trained and become proficient in programs such as STEM, Inquiry, Leadership and in alternative classroom instruction such as 'flip' classrooms, 'hybrid' instruction and in the use of teaching tools such as formative assessments and differentiated instruction. Moving forward, even in the most challenging economic times, is important.