Tuesday night, Blytheville School District superintendent Bobby Ashley told the school board that he planned to send Reduction in Force (RIF) letters to employees before spring break.
According to financial consultant Norman Hill, the school district must cut a minimum of $1.3 million in payroll its next fiscal year, though he recommended reducing positions by $1.8 million to avoid another potential RIF the following year.
“If the recommended amount ($1.8 million) is reached that should take care of 2021-22,” Hill said.
The reason for the cuts is a dramatic loss in students and in turn the revenue the state provides to educate them.
Blytheville lost 166 students this year and has seen its student population drop by about 1,000 in the last 10 years, according to Ashley.
Financial consultant Jay Hill, who is Norman’s son, pointed out that at one point the Blytheville School District had around 4,000 students and currently has about 1,800.
“It’s hard on everybody,” Norman Hill said of eliminating positions. “This is not an easy thing for anybody to do...It’s nobody’s fault in this room. It’s not the board’s fault, it’s not the superintendent’s, it’s not your school people. It’s just the way the communities are operating right now. They’re losing population, businesses are shutting down. It’s simply something we have to monitor and adjust with. I feel very confident that we can fix the problem, we can have it lined out, but it’s not easy. It’s never easy when you get into personnel, and if we can ever get it fixed and we don’t have another big group of students lost like we did this year, hopefully in the future we can take care of it by attrition.”
He said the school district’s unrestricted funds balance has dropped each of the last five years, with the legal balance going from $5,874,401 at the end of the 2015-16 school year to $1,442,438 on June 30, 2019. He projects a legal balance of $985,108 at the end of this school year.
Norman Hill said the district had more expenditures than revenues each of the last three years, going in the red by $1,603,285 in 2016-17, $1,550,956 in 2017-18 and $1,277,722 in 2018-19. He projects Blytheville will spend $457,329 more than it takes in this year.
“Mr. Ashley and his team and you as a board made a good effort in 18-19, 19-20 and if nothing else had happened during that time, we would have been in great shape to balance the budget next year without a lot of change in the district,” Hill said.
He added the state is not providing additional money for mandated certified employee raises or the increase in minimum wage.
According to Norman Hill, the district must make up losses of $1,854,563 during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
That includes the estimated decline in legal balance for 2020 of $457,329; the loss of 166 students that will cost the district $1,145,234 in funding next year; state-required salary increases for Masters plus steps of $175,000; and a loss of declining enrollment funds of $77,000.
Norman Hill said the only way to stop the bleeding is a RIF.
He said the administration, not the school board, is charged with implementing the RIF policy, adding school board members’ part was developing the policy.
If a teacher who receives a RIF letter asks for a hearing, the school board is the final authority.
“What are you judging? To me you are judging if we administered your policy correctly,” Norman Hill said.
Blytheville School Board member Desmond Hammett asked if current administration staff is guaranteed to keep their jobs, and Ashley responded that they were at this time.
Hammett said when the superintendent considers to whom to issue RIF letters, he should look at administrators as closely as teachers.
The school district’s RIF policy says the initial determining factor is the teacher’s length of service in the district.
If two teachers have the same length of service, the one with the most points retains his or her job. Points are awarded for years of service, degrees in areas of licensure, certifications and living in the district, to name a few.
In other news, Ashley reported that the bleachers have been installed at the new state-of-the-art basketball arena.
The board also heard an audit report from Thomas, Speight and Noble.
Meanwhile, Hammett asked if there is a priority list for the $785,000 in second lien bond money.
Brandon Harper, director of safety and security, said the biggest priority is roofs, along with the parking lots at the old boys gym and elementary school.
School board vice president Barbara Wells asked Harper to bring projects before the board and he assured her that he would.
Also, Harper recognized director of transportation Carolyn Barnes for her action in helping a student who was having trouble breathing earlier this month.
Harper said Barnes called 911 and went to the scene after learning of the student’s illness.
She stayed with the student until the ambulance arrived and then followed medics to the hospital, staying with the child until family members arrived.
“It was a very difficult time,” Harper said, noting the student was in distress.
He added Barnes showed true concern for the student and he appreciates the way she handled the situation.
Meanwhile, school board member Michelle Sims asked Harper how the district plans to handle the Coronavirus if it impacts this area.
Harper said the school has a pandemic policy for the flu, and he planned to craft a similar policy for the Coronavirus to consider.
Also Tuesday night, the school board approved the 2020-21 school calendar.
In other news, the board accepted the resignations of BES librarian Elizabeth Robinson, BHS teacher Shondra Wright, BHS secretary Norma Valley and BPS food service employee Ivy Bruner.