Earlier this week, Ladue School administrators held the second of two planned roundtable discussions open to the public ahead of next month's public vote on increasing the district's tax levy by .49 cents.
With an enrollment that has increased 23 percent over 10 years and a nine percent drop in revenues, due to a slow paced economy and falling home values, the district has been put on a financial collision course. Some cuts will still likely come even if the ballot measure passes. They will be worse if it fails.
“It’s sort of like we’re on a sinking ship and the bucket we are using to bail water has a hole in it,” said Dr. Jason Buckner, chief financial officer addressing a room full of concerned residents, parents, administrators and teachers at Ladue High School Monday night.
Bucker said maintaining the district finances is no different than running a home budget. “There are simply things that are out of our control. We have no say over utility rates. If we have severe winter weather (the district incurred several recent years), costs go up.” Besides, “Our money is tied up in a state mandated pension fund for our employees and we have to continue to purchase services for our schools,” he said.
If the tax levy passes, then a number of things will kick into place
- Class room sizes, grades 3-12 will remain the same. Plans are in place to keep class room sizes smaller in grades K-3.
- The fifth grade center at the West Campus will open for school year 2013-14.
- The district will be able to avoid expenditure reductions
- Teachers would receive modest increases
Should the bond issue not pass:
- $1-2 million would be cut from the budget every year going forward. The district has already cut $7 million from the budget the past four years.
- Size of class rooms would be mandated by the number of teachers available in each district building
- In time, The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would name Ladue as a financially stressed district.
Watch the interviews with district administrators and others. Then tell us what you think.
flyoverland
9:09 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
You forgot to mention that all these horror stories only happen if home values never go back up. It seems the schools want a permanent tax increase to deal with a temporary problem. They should have to hunker down like everyone else during this terrible recession. Nobody likes it, but it is the current reality. If home values never recover, we all have bigger problems than this.
CreveCoeurResident
9:41 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
2 things . . . first, the article does not mention how much the district's tax levy will increase. Sort of an important piece of information, don't you think? Second, flyoverland, home prices are not returning to their pre housing bubble values any time soon. That is why we call it a "bubble." (http://www.cepr.net/index.php/data-bytes/housing-market-monitor/housing-market-shows-modest-signs-of-recovery)
Gregg Palermo
9:51 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Fair point, I have updated the story to reflect it would be a .49 increase. My apologies.
flyoverland
10:50 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
CreveCoeurResident. That is my point. This is the new normal. Social Security has risen only slightly once in the last three years. I am getting almost no return on my savings. My health insurance has gone up dramatically over the past two years. I am getting zero additional income. The schools are going to have to learn to survive just like the rest of us. Being made whole to where we were a few years ago just isn't possible right now. Where is the money supposed to come from? I have a question for Gregg. Is the Patch supposed to be objective or is this sort of like MSNBC where the reporters are urged to have opinions? This article seems very one-sided. Just wondering.
Gregg Palermo
11:41 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Patch has made a number of attempts to reach out to the organized opposition to the levy, and to my knowledge we haven't heard from them. The purpose of this story was to show readers the argument the district is making in public meetings about the levy, and letting readers decide. You brought up good points in the discussion about the new normal. That's a decision voters will have to make at the polls.
Ann Learner
2:45 pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Dear flyoverland
You have been living in a district with the lowest rates for years. The good housing, low tax rates and GOOD SCHOOLS have kept up your property values. You say the only thing going up in your budget are expenses while your income is static. For the school district, the income is decreasing, the expenses are increasing and the number of students has increased dramatically. The increased enrollment has required BOND issues to build/buy more space for them. The added students also require more people to teach them. Bond issue money, by law, can not be used to pay teachers. Up to now the extra expenses have been paid for by cutting corners. The district has already cut more corners that a GOOD school district should cut. It is past time to raise raise the Operating tax rate to pay for the extra teachers.
You need to adjust your attitude. Be thankful that you SAVED money all these years living in a low tax rate district. Be thankful you took that saved money and invested it. Now you are able to take a portion of that investment and keep up the reputation your school district. Making this INVESTMENT in your school district, it will impact your investment in your house, and its eventual resale value to you or your heirs.
If you question the way the District is run, go to
Meet the Candidates for the school board
Wed March 14, 7pm at the High School.
Then vote on April 3 for your candidates
and FOR Prop 1
Ann Learner
3:01 pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
For more information about Prop 1 go to one of these meetings , where the group has scheduled a Prop 1 question night.
Monday, March 12 at 7 p.m.
LHWHS Parent Organization
OR
Tuesday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Ladue Horton Watkins High School Dads Club
They both meet at
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
1201 S. Warson Road, 63124
Learning Center or Room 116
Then you can go back on
Wed March 14 , 7pm
to Meet the Candidates for school board
at Ladue Horton Watkins High School
You can also go to the website for
www.ladueschools.net/prop1/
flyoverland
3:07 pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Ann, I'm really not sure what you are talking about. I didn't mention anything about bonds. Why is all the chatter about this election about selling my house? I'm not planning on selling my house. I want to make sure I can still afford to live in my house and this increase is not a small one. I am not a real estate speculator just an old person trying to survive this recession. I think you have a strange way of trying to influence people by telling them to change their attitude. Telling retired people who are not getting raises they need to suck it up so teachers and administrators can get raises is going to be a very hard sale in this economy. Regardless of your "low rates" my taxes have been extremely high over the years. Your assumption that I have just been rat-holing all this money I supposedly saved is quite presumptuous and a real stretch for a reason to vote yes. I will come to the candidate forum, although from what I have read about the candidates there isn't much difference between them.