Iowa City school board votes to use savings to save teacher jobs

IOWA CITY – It's often said that the Iowa City area, home of the University of Iowa, cares deeply about education. That showed Tuesday night.

A week of rallies, email messages and even a student-made documentary culminated as a standing room-only crowd of about 200 people attended the Iowa City school board meeting to protest proposed teacher layoffs.

“I would not be who I am today without the teachers helping me,” said Miranda Barnes, a senior at West High School.

The school board decided to use more of its savings than it typically does to save 22 teacher positions that had been on the chopping block to help make up a budget shortfall.

“Listening to the students tonight, I don't know if I've ever been more proud to call myself an alum of the Iowa City school district,” board member Tuyet Dorau said.

The board voted unanimously to let the district's undesignated unspent reserve fund, which is essentially a savings account, drop from 5 percent of the budget, as had been required, to 3 percent next fiscal year.

Doing so will free up an estimated $2.5 million, which will be enough money to keep the 22 regular-education teacher positions that administrators had said needed to be cut.

The 22 cuts would have saved $1.4 million. The school district is facing a budget deficit next fiscal year of up to $6.8 million and a two-year shortfall of $9.6 million, Superintendent Stephen Murley said.

The remaining $4.3 million will be made up with one-time funding that will buy the district time to seek other, long-term cost savings, Murley said.

The school board at a Monday night meeting had indicated they'd make a one-time exception to the reserve fund policy, but Tuesday night's public reaction reinforced how strong passions were on the subject.

It was the biggest crowd in recent memory for a school board meeting and probably was only surpassed by last year's public forums on redistricting.

Several dozen people in the crowd were students, many wearing blue T-shirts – blue to show unity as opposed to City High red and West High green – with “this is our future” on the front and “education matters” on the back.

“Teachers and students and parents – it matters to us,” City High teacher Robin Fields said.

School officials said a lot of the budget problems result from the threat of no new money from the state. Republicans want there to be no increase in allowable growth, which is the amount of new per-pupil state funding, and Democrats have proposed 2 percent allowable growth.

Murley and board members warned of a grim budget outlook a year from now, too, with the reserve fund needing to be replenished and the possibility of another year of no increase in allowable growth, all while the district's enrollment and expenses continue to grow.

“I fear for the next decision we have to make, and I don't think we're going to like it,” board member Mike Cooper said.

Decreasing the percentage of money required to be in the reserve fund may save jobs, but it comes with risk. It will leave the district with less cash on hand, which could create problems if there are unanticipated expenses or something like the 10 percent across-the-board state cuts required in the middle of the school year in 2009.

Changing the reserve fund policy to save the 22 regular-education teacher positions, which are paid for with the general fund, does not help the 15 teachers funded by other sources who have already received layoff notices from the district. Administrators still hope to save some of those jobs.