Springfield School District leaders had their first chance to weigh in on next school year’s budget Thursday.
If approved, this budget would eliminate nearly 34 positions.
Some budget committee members said they were afraid more cuts would lead to larger class sizes. They worried that—paired with some parents' concerns about curriculum—could make the district’s enrollment decline worse.
Chief Operations Officer Brett Yancey said Springfield’s enrollment challenges have more to do with birthrates and economic barriers than district policies.
"Housing is very hard to afford, the job market is not robust in this area,” Yancey said. “I think there's a lot of reasons why families aren't coming to our area. I want to disrupt the narrative as much as I can that families are leaving our district, because if families are leaving our district, they are leaving every district because it's a statewide enrollment decline."
Yancey said the district, despite switching 40% of the fleet to propane-fueled buses, was still facing higher fuel costs for its remaining diesel buses. Other factors, such as pensions, and negotiated wage increases, also increased the district’s costs.
A few budget committee members, including School Board Member Amber Langworthy, voted against moving the budget out of committee. They asked for more time and discussion about the impact of the close to $7 million in cuts. Some said Springfield should be making a plan to attract back the students that are now homeschooled, or choiced into other districts.
The rest of the budget committee voted to send the spending plan onto the full board, which must make a decision before the end of June.
