Washtenaw County schools' spending on instruction takes slight dip

Local districts spent a total of $466 million in the 2007-08 school year.

What wasn’t spent on classroom instruction can be divided into two areas: Central office and maintenance costs.

About 23.5 cents of every dollar went toward traditional central office functions like instruction coordinators, the business office, district administrators and building administrators.

Another 16.4 cents of every dollar paid for maintenance, operations and transportation, audits show.

Local school officials said they try to protect the classroom.

“That’s always been our goal when we make cuts - to stay away from the classroom,” said Robert Allen, Ann Arbor’s deputy superintendent for operations. “That’s why you’ll see a slightly higher percentage of our spending going towards instruction than in the past.”

Cuts and more cuts

Budget presentations from somber superintendents to their school boards recommending millions of dollars in cuts have become a springtime tradition in local school districts.

District officials have repeatedly said they face a structural budget deficit where revenue growth - which is largely controlled by the state - can’t match up with increased expenses, primarily benefit and retirement costs.

School boards have approved waves of cuts, including teacher layoffs in many of the county’s smaller districts.

But the financial picture remains grim.

Ann Arbor, for example, is projecting a budget shortfall of up to $15 million next year.

That’s the equivalent of 200 positions, Allen has said.

Willow Run has been running a budget deficit for several years and is under a state-mandated deficit elimination plan. Ypsilanti school officials anticipate being in the same situation sometime this school year.

Local school boards are hopeful voters will pass a new 2-mill tax in November that would raise $30 million a year and be distributed to each school district.

Ann Arbor stands to gain an additional $11 million annually under the millage, which would be used to help eliminate the budget shortfall.

But some residents are skeptical local school districts’ aren’t doing a good job managing the money they already have.

“I don’t think they spend as much money on the actual classroom as they should,” said Walter Matthew, who has two elementary students in the Ann Arbor schools. “They need to make deeper cuts in other areas.”

Where the money goes

The bulk of spending by districts - in instruction and other areas - funds salaries and benefits.

In Ann Arbor, the district spent $84.5 million on elementary, middle school and high school instruction.

Nearly $57.5 million of that went to salaries, and another $23.1 million covered benefits.

The district spent $2.3 million on teaching supplies.

Aside from instruction, the biggest spending category for local school districts is in their central offices - including the principals that run the schools.

Those costs also include student services such as supplemental teaching and activities like guidance counselors, health and social work services.

In fact, several school administrators argue those costs should be added into the instruction category because they involve educating students.

In general administration, which covers school boards and superintendents, districts spent an average of 1.3 percent of their budgets. Districts spent another 1.6 percent on central business services, the audits show.

Savings?

Local districts believe one solution to cutting costs could be consolidating services.

A committee that met last year to explore areas for combining services recently came back together, said Washtenaw Intermediate School District Superintendent Bill Miller.

The focus this year is how to install common standards and computer programs into districts’ central offices, which would make combining services easier, Miller said.

“That would allow us to share data easier,” he said. “If two offices are on different (human resource) programs, it would be hard to combine those services and get savings. If they are on the same one, it would be easier.”

The committee, made up of various officials from local school districts, is also looking at ways to save money on new programs for students, such as a countywide International Baccalaureate.

“We’re trying to get as much efficiency as we can,” Miller said. “We’re working department by department.”

Local districts have been talking for years about consolidating services. They made a countywide purchase of Powerschool to help track students and have combined for years on special education services. The also recently switched to a private company that provides substitute teachers for all the districts.

What’s not on the table right now is mass consolidation of districts, Miller said.

“It doesn’t make sense for a lot of districts,” he said. “We’re looking to take it step-by-step.”