Somers/Lakeside school district looking at cuts after failed levy

By a 9 percent margin, voters in Lakeside and Somers rejected a $200,000 levy request May 14. The vote was 440-367.

Somers-Lakeside school Superintendent Paul Jenkins called the result “disheartening.”

Jenkins said the district is waiting on some preliminary budget numbers before it decides where to make cuts.

Jenkins said the school board would discuss potential cuts at its meeting yesterday.  Jenkins was hired about a year ago. “We hired him because of his experience. He’s been through budget crises before and you’re paying for that,” school district trustee Sam Bagley said at the time. The district has seen its revenue decrease by $6,759 due to declining enrollment, $11,300 due to the federal sequestration in the form of Title I funding and the discontinuation of $25,000 in Rural Education Achievement Program funding. Title I funding helps districts provide extra educational assistance to academically at-risk or disadvantaged students.

Rural Education Achievement funding is provided to assist rural school districts in raising student achievement. Somers-Lakeside has used the money in the past to supplement Title I teacher salaries. Due to population growth in the town of Lakeside, however, the district recently was notified by the Office of Public Instruction that it no longer was defined as “rural,” and as a result was not eligible for the money.

The combined loss of approximately $43,059 in revenue has added to the district’s list of financial needs that include a roof replacement and heating upgrades. The district needs approximately $45,000 to $50,000 to address immediate facility needs, Jenkins said.