By the Numbers
10: Consecutive years that Lakota has achieved the state’s highest rating
1,140: Annual real estate taxes paid by Lakota homeowners based on market value of $100,000 home
63,505: Average salary for Lakota teachers in 2010-11
350: Pay-to-participate fee per sport at the junior high
550: Pay-to-participate fee per sport at the high school
2005: Last time Lakota successfully passed a levy
18,554: Enrollment in 2009-10, the highest ever in Lakota history
643: Decline in enrollment from ‘09-‘10 to this year
9: Millions of dollars that need to be cut from the 2012-13 budget
22: Millions of dollars already cut from the budget in the last few years
153: Annual budget in millions of dollars
77: Percentage of general fund committed to wages and benefits
2.8: Cost in millions to restore busing K-12
1.2: Cost in millions to restore busing K-6
LIBERTY TWP. — As 2011 comes to a close, the Lakota Local School District finds itself at a crossroads.
Faced with $9 million in cuts for the 2012-13 school year — on top of $22 million already axed over the last few years as a result of three failed levies in 18 months — Lakota is heading into what school officials believe is the district’s most critical time in its history.
“Lakota has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, but not to this extent,” Assistant Superintendent Ron Spurlock said. “By changing some of the ways we do business and with community support, I believe we can come out of this an even stronger district in the future. However, the longer we remain in this cutting mode, the longer it will take us to turn this around. Passing a levy in the near future is critical.”
Spurlock, who, after 23 years in the district, will retire Dec. 30 and be rehired as a consultant, has seen the good times as well as the bad times for a district of nearly 18,000 students.
The two questions most asked Spurlock by community members deal with how Lakota will maintain its Excellent with Distinction rating and what reductions will be made. And the two are intertwined, he said.
“What we’ve tried to do in the past is protect the classroom as much as possible,” Spurlock said, “but at this point, everything is on the table. Any additional cuts from here on out will have a negative impact on our core business.”
What’s next?
While first-year Superintendent Karen Mantia has indicated that $9 million will be cut from the 2012-13 budget, those reductions will not be finalized until March or April, she said.
At this point, the district is going through its decision-making process — “data collection, cost analysis, option reviews,” Mantia said — and will also embark on reaching out to the community to answer questions as well as receive feedback.
Face-to-face meetings, using technology, phone calls and the media are all venues that Lakota is considering to strengthen its relationship with the community.
“It’s really important that Lakota steps back for a moment and digests what’s out there,” Mantia said, “and I don’t know if we know. The only way to find out where we stand is by listening. We have a very large community, and we have to be creative in these processes. The expectation on our side is to be open to listening. That’s the most important thing we can do on our end.”
Aside from the $9 million in cuts for 2012-13, without additional revenue in ’12 — translation, a passage of a levy — even more cuts would have be made for the 2013-14 school year.
“We’re running out of money,” Mantia said. “It’s like a household. If you don’t have income, you keep cutting back, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Among the district’s recent moves, busing is at the state minimum saving $2 million; $1 million was cut from the athletics budget and teachers also agreed to a three-year base pay freeze until 2014-15.
Lakota has an annual budget of $153 million, with 77 percent of the general fund committed to wages and benefits.
“There are no sacred cows,” Treasurer Jenni Logan said. “We are looking at everything.”
That includes athletics and band, which take up $500,000 of this year’s budget.
Athletic pay-to-participate fees nearly doubled from last year to this year — $200 to $350 per sport at the junior high and $300 to $550 per sport at the high school. There is no family cap.
Junior high athletics are self-sufficient so the pay-to-play fees are due prior to the start of the season, while at the high school level, payment plans are available.
New this year, however, is if there are unpaid fees from a previous sport, that student-athlete is prohibited from playing another sport until those outstanding fees are paid. There are 33 athletes who still have not paid their entire pay-to-play fees from the fall sports season.
Lakota East has an outstanding balance of $815 from five athletes, while Lakota West has an outstanding balance of $7,073.48 across 28 athletes. All of those athletes have paid some portion of their fees and the district is working to collect the remaining balances, said Chris Passarge, the executive director of business operations for Lakota.
At this point, Passarge expects the pay-to-participate fees to remain the same for next year.
“It’s really been a struggle with a lot of multi-sport families,” Passarge said. “So far we haven’t had a huge push-back because people understand our situation.”
With an increase in participation fees, the district has seen a decline in athletic participation numbers.
All six schools — the two high schools (East and West) and four junior highs — all have declining athletic participation numbers for the winter.
East is down 21 percent, from 263 participants to 208, and West is down 15 percent (252 to 214).
“We’ve been able to continue to be successful in all areas within the athletic department,” East athletic director Rich Bryant said, “but I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to hold on.”
Liberty (22 percent) has seen the largest decline among the four junior highs, followed by Ridge (12), Plains (8) and Hopewell (6).
Back in the fall, East was down 8 percent (404 to 372) and West was down 2 percent (370 to 364). The numbers for the junior highs in the fall were: Hopewell (24 percent), Liberty (20), Plains (12) and Ridge (1).
“We understand it’s very hard to come up with money each season,” Passarge said. “We’re working through options like fundraisers to offset participation fees and help ease the burdens. It’s not ideal from an athletic standpoint, but we’re happy to provide opportunities for those kids for sure.”
West band director Greg Snyder, who’s been at Lakota the last 24 years, has seen district staff cut over the last two years.
“Just two years ago, we had 19 band directors, and now we have 11,” he said. “Next year, who knows? I’m focusing on the positive and what the kids are doing right now, but of course with the failure of the levy, we have to be concerned.”
Levy in 2012?
The deadline for the first opportunity to put a levy on the 2012 ballot was Dec. 7, and as expected, Lakota opted not to for the March 6 primary election.
“That option is out for us because a big part of what we want to do is listen and find out why have we failed the past three times,” Logan said. “That did not give us adequate time to do any community outreach.”
There are still two other opportunities to have a levy in 2012: the Aug. 7 special election (multiple deadlines) and Nov. 6 general election (deadline Aug. 8).
“That right now is something we are going to weigh out at a future board meeting because the board needs to determine if we are going back to another levy, and if so, which one is going to be the best opportunity for us,” Logan said. “We want to do it right. That’s what we’re trying to decide and work through right now. We still have a lot more to discuss before we’re ready to decide that.”
Lakota hasn’t passed a levy since 2005. The most recent levy, a 4.75-mill continuing levy on Nov. 8, was defeated 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent.
Liberty Twp. resident David Hoeper believes that Lakota has “enough money coming in to operate the school system.”
But in his mind, if the district wants to win over its residents, restoring busing would be the first step. Mantia has said in the past that restoring busing for K-12 would cost $2.8 million, and for K-6, it would be $1.2 million.
“They’ve got to figure out a way to get busing back,” said Hoeper, 45, who doesn’t have any children in the district. “It’s really putting a hurt on people, taking away the one thing that people really need. Some kids walk to school with no sidewalks. Administrators are making way too much money and teachers are probably compensated well. This is outrageous stuff.”
Enrollment dropping
Enrollment peaked in 2009-10 with a figure of 18,554 — about 1,500 students more than in 2005 when the state shifted Lakota to a “flat funding” method. According to Logan, 60 percent comes from local revenue, while 40 percent is from the state.
But since 2009-10 there has been a decline, from 18,458 in 2010-11 to 17,911 as of Nov. 15. Only one other time in district history has enrollment dropped (1980-83).
“Personally, it does make me worry,” school board President Joan Powell said. “Some people are physically moving away because they’re discouraged. They saw this as a community that supported quality education. ... There are a myriad of reasons, but lack of confidence is a biggie.”
Brian and Kim Mullholand moved from Fairfield to West Chester Twp. in 1997 because they wanted their future children to attend Lakota schools.
Now, 14 years and three daughters (ages 13, 10 and 8) later, that confidence is shaken, and they say much of that has to do with the attitude of the community.
“I love where we’re at,” said Kim Mullholand, “but it’s disappointing. It seemed like there was a lot of pride in the community, and now it seems people don’t care about the community, the school and things like that to make it the best it can be.”
Moving, though, isn’t an option, she said.
“I’m not really sure where we’d go that won’t potentially be in the same situation in a few years, if they’re not already,” she said. “We need to stay in this area. ... There really isn’t a more important issue that West Chester is facing right now than the future of the schools.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or steven.matthews@coxinc.com.
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