FWCS Board wants budget trimmed

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - To address funding cuts by the State of Indiana, the Fort Wayne Community School Board has asked the district's administration to come up with a plan to trim its budget within 30 days.

"There will be no sacred cows, these will be painful we expect they will be painful," said Mark GiaQuinta, FWCS Board President.

That's the tough reality as Fort Wayne Community Schools gets ready to address its $15 million shortfall.

It's a $6 million tax revenue loss, compounded by a $9 million cut from the state. That $9 million is part of Governor Daniels' $300 million cut to public education.

"We must now move to restructure the way we operate Fort Wayne Community Schools in a way that we have never been challenged in the past," said GiaQuinta.

The FWCS board wants Superintendent Dr. Wendy Robinson and her staff to come up with a comprehensive plan within 30 days.

"While we cut we don't want to lose our status as an educational leader in this community," said Dr. Wendy Robinson, FWCS Superintendent.

The state wants these cuts to be creative and far away from the classroom. The second part just doesn't appear to be possible for FWCS.

"90 percent of our budget is people, so you cut $15 million we can look at all kinds of programs and services but we've been doing that," said Robinson.

FWCS believes it's put itself in a place to get ahead of this problem, but the reality is deep cuts lie ahead for the district.

The following news release was issued by Fort Wayne Community Schools on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. 

The Fort Wayne Community Schools Board of School Trustees has requested that the FWCS
administration establish a comprehensive plan within 30 days to address the significantly reduction
in funding from the State of Indiana. The plan will be presented at a special meeting of the School
Board.

"The Board has reviewed the current and future funding situation and it is extremely serious," Board President Mark GiaQuinta said. "We must address the reductions that went into effect last month as well as the State's decision to "reset" the amounts available for public education in the future. Planning for long term reductions is essential to allow us to continue providing quality instruction for our students. We challenge Dr. Robinson and her staff to propose bold changes to reduce expenses across the board in order to meet the challenge of maintaining quality instruction with shrinking resources."

The state announced $300 million in cuts in education for 2010 in December. This equals a $9.1
million cut to FWCS. The education cuts are likely to remain in 2011. FWCS already anticipated
cutting $6 million from its General Fund budget prior to the state's announcement. Combined,
FWCS must reduce a total of $15 million from the General Fund for 2010. Further reductions are
anticipated for 2011. The General Fund pays for salaries, benefits and other classroom expenses.

In addition, the Circuit Breaker and lower assessed property values are reducing property tax
revenue to schools. FWCS will see a reduction in its Capital Projects, Transportation, Bus
Replacement and Racial Balance funds by $2.5 million in 2010 and $4.1 million in 2011.

"We have told the administration that we are receptive to bold ideas for changes in how we
operate, including looking at staffing, building maintenance and the configuration of the
district," Mr. GiaQuinta said. "The only exception is full-day kindergarten because we
view that as a necessity to increase and maintain improvements in academic achievement."

The state has emphasized that the funding changes are a complete reset to funding K-12 education
in Indiana, which will have long-term ramifications to the district's budget.

"We must remain balanced, keeping in mind our three board goals as we develop our
plan," Mr. GiaQuinta said. "We are a state leader in the percentage of money spent in the
classroom, and we need to retain this emphasis. Fiscal responsibility is crucial, but academic
excellence remains our number one goal."