District budget cuts meeting brings out 200

Queen Creek Unified School District's financial crisis brought out more than 200 parents and teachers Thursday night as they filled the Queen Creek Middle School cafeteria to learn more about the options district officials are proposing to handle the projected state budget cuts.

Q.C. district looks at budget cut options

Although it's ultimately up to the governing board, some parents expressed concerns that the district had already made up its mind to choose the option to move all fifth- and sixth-graders to one middle school, and all seventh- and eighth-graders to another middle school.

District officials touted this option as the best solution to ensure student success, retain more teachers and staff without "massive" layoffs, and a way to live within the budget.

They acknowledged the drawbacks of longer bus rides for some students and different school start times that would be difficult for some families. However, district officials said the positives outweighed the negatives.

"When we're looking towards the future within the next three- to five-year time frame, this is the best option," said Tom Lindsey, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. "Some options might be good for one to two years, but we have the stability at both the junior highs with this option, otherwise we'll have to move students again (in the next couple of years)."

With no new elementary schools planned for at least the next three years, the district needs to find a way to relieve overcrowding issues at the elementary schools without buying more expensive portables, finding ways to deal with the budget cuts, using available classroom space at the middle schools, and letting as few teachers go as possible.

District officials believe they have identified ways to cut about $2.7 million to account for an estimated $3.8 million decrease in state funding for the 2009-10 school year. But the district will still need to figure out how to cut a remaining $1.08 million from the budget.

Officials outlined several other possible options to deal with the remaining million-plus, including closing Queen Creek Middle School and moving the students to Newell Barney Middle School or having sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at both middle schools. They also discussed keeping the middle schools as they are now with sixth- to eighth-graders at Queen Creek Middle and sixth- and seventh-graders at Newell Barney, or having both middle schools serve fifth- to eighth-graders.

Parents and teachers asked questions for more than an hour, grilling several district officials on everything from transportation issues and portables to whether teachers will get raises next year, to what will federal stimulus money be used for and questioning why the entire governing board wasn't at the meeting. Board member Wendy Baggs and vice president Monica Cavanaugh were the only two members attending out of the five-member board. District officials who attended the meeting included principals and administrators.

After the meeting, Cavanaugh said the meeting was supposed to be for parents to get answers to any questions, although she did say she was "glad" she was there. Cavanaugh said she got a chance to talk face to face with many parents and teachers, and hear their concerns.

"This is not just a Queen Creek problem. We're in better shape than a lot of districts," said Cavanaugh, adding she thinks the fifth- and sixth-grade option makes the most sense for the long term. "I hope people know we want to do what's best for our kids. I have no problem taking sixth-graders out of the middle school."

Some parents, such as Sandy Pieper, say they also support the proposed fifth- and sixth-grade upper elementary model, and the seventh- and eighth-grade junior high school. They think it's a good idea to separate the sixth-graders from the eighth-graders.

Pieper, whose seventh-grade daughter attends Newell Barney, said she likes the idea because the sixth-grade years are "so tough."

Marita Johnson said her four children would go to four different schools if the district decides to go with this option. She's upset because her family moved from the Gilbert district two years ago to move close to Jack Barnes Elementary School, and now her kids might have to switch schools again.

"I think they should buy more portables," Johnson said. "They should have planned ahead. I can't imagine what it will do to split families. This steals away from family time because of the (possible) longer bus rides."Other parents, like Pieper, were concerned about the number of out-of-district students allowed in Queen Creek schools. She said the district should consider not allowing these students to open-enroll to handle the overcrowding issues at the elementary schools. Queen Creek has more than 500 out-of-boundary students.

"When I bought my property, I didn't buy in another district for a reason," Pieper said. "If they're not happy with their district, they should work to better their district."

However, don't tell that to Kimber Williams, who has six children in the district and two younger children. The family lives in the J.O. Combs Unified School District, and Williams said she chose Queen Creek because it's a "fantastic" district.

"I think they're doing the best they can in a bad situation," said Williams, who supports the fifth- and sixth-grade option. "I would love it if they could keep it the way it is now, but they can't.

"My philosophy is it comes down to the home," she said. "Teachers, administrators and legislators need to support the home, because that's where it starts or fails."

To see the full presentation given Thursday, visit the district's Web site at www.qcusd.org.

Superintendent Jim Murlless also encouraged anyone with questions to e-mail him at djmurlless@qcusd.org.

The school board is expected to discuss the options and make a decision at the March 24 board meeting.

Budget cutting
Options identified by Queen Creek Unified School District to cut its budget:
• $1.5 million cut by “standardizing” class sizes and reducing number of teachers and staff.
• Continuation of $1.5 million in staffing cuts in transportation, custodians, security, maintenance, warehouse, secretaries, district office and aides. These are not new cuts. This is a continuation of budget cuts already made because of money previously owed to the Arizona Department of Education after a miscalculation of funds was found in the 2005-06 school year.