Eastern Iowa schools prepare for tight staffing, larger class sizes

Corridor schools, facing budget uncertainty about state funding, likely will see level or reduced staffing as well as larger class sizes in 2015-16, officials said this week.

Iowa school districts were required to publish their 2015-16 budgets — including property tax rates — by Wednesday.

But those budgets are based in large part on guesswork because the state Legislature has not yet decided how much state funding for schools will increase next year.

The Legislature's debate over state supplemental aid — a funding category based on school enrollment that usually makes up a large part of a district's budget — has been ongoing since January.

Republicans in the Iowa House and Gov. Terry Branstad continue to hold firm to their proposal of a 1.25 percent increase in that funding category. Senate Democrats, for their part, originally proposed a 4 percent increase and have since offered to meet Republicans in the middle, at 2.625 percent.

So, without a resolution, school districts are left to base their budgets on the funding level they believe will become law.

CLASS SIZES TO GROW

Regardless of which funding level legislators end up choosing, administrators and teachers are preparing for tight financial situations next year.

Cedar Rapids Community School District Superintendent David Benson said Thursday the district would have to leave 25 teacher positions unfilled if state supplemental aid increases only by 1.25 percent.

That would be part of a $2.9 million budget cut overall.

Cedar Rapids schools saw their enrollment decline this year, and administrators have said they would need about 4 percent additional state funding to keep up with pay and benefits increases for staff members.

The Iowa City Community School District, meanwhile, is projected to have 400 new students next year, superintendent Stephen Murley said this week. But the district is not planning to hire any additional teachers, he said, which means class sizes will increase.

The College Community School District also plans to freeze hiring for 2015-16, said Jim Rotter, the executive director of business services. College Community's middle-school class sizes likely will increase, he said.

'In the 13 years I've been doing this, there's never been this many unknowns or uncertainty going into a fiscal year,' Rotter said. 'It makes it very difficult for us to plan in terms of staffing and classroom size.'

The uncertainty over staffing is 'unfair' to teachers, said Tammy Wawro, the president of the Iowa State Teachers Association.

'No one in education who cares about kids thinks this is a good idea, but they're doing what they have to do,' Wawro said.

TAX RATES VARY

Changes in property tax rates for next school year vary by district and could shift significantly, depending on what funding level the Legislature sets.

In many cases, districts base their budgets on the highest possible funding level — even if they don't believe that amount of aid is likely.

That's because Iowa code dictates that a district can only lower its property tax rate once it has published a rate — but not raise it. Property tax rates and state funding levels usually increase or decrease together.

In the Cedar Rapids and Solon school districts, property tax rates could rise or fall from their current levels, depending on the Legislature's decision.

The Iowa City, College Community and Linn-Mar districts will see property tax rates increase — even if state aid remains flat.

That's in part because of taxes that support schools' cash reserves. Rotter said those taxes are necessary 'when state supplemental aid is either unknown or inadequate.'