Elmbrook Schools Would Lose $1.6M Under State Budget Plan

The governor's proposed budget reforms would mean a net loss of $1.6 million to Elmbrook School District, further deepening the district's projected budget deficit, Superintendent Matt Gibson said.

"I was hoping that there would be a better match between the revenue cap level and the amount of savings that would be possible through the budget," Gibson said in an interview. 

He said Elmbrook would lose about $5.4 million through the governor's proposed 5.5 percent reduction in revenue caps for local school districts. Elmbrook would save about $3.8 million, if its employees were required to contribute 5.8 percent toward their pension plans, pay 12.6 percent of their health insurance premiums and have wages capped at the consumer price index.

That would result in a net $1.6 million loss, which would be in addition to the already projected $3 million budget deficit Elmbrook is facing for the 2011-12 school year. 

The district is projecting a five-year deficit of $13 million to $14 million, down from previous estimates of up to $16 million.

Asked if making $4.6 million in cuts for next school year was possible and how it could be achieved, Gibson said: "We need to balance our budgets.

"Certainly it's possible," he said. 

"The variable that is least preferred is increasing class sizes more than we would like to and laying off more staff than we’d like to," Gibson added. "But it's too early to say. There might be changes in both the state variables by the time we need to make layoff decisions, which is April 8."

Other ideas to help address future deficits caused in part by declining enrollment include: adding or closing elementary schools.

A decision on closing schools won't be made until next fall. And Gibson said Wednesday that although the 4K issue was planned for inclusion on the March 8 School Board agenda, he believed a decision also would be deferred until fall.

"I don’t know that for sure," he said. "But given the uncertainty of the state budget, I’m anticipating that both of those decisions won’t be made until fall."