Hundreds of community members flocked to the Hazelwood School District school board meeting on Tuesday, February 16 to voice their concerns about the new budget reduction plan, which includes eliminating several educator positions, cutting physical education classes down to once a week, and discontinuing elementary band and orchestra classes during the school day.
The district is operating with a deficit of approximately $15 million and the 2016-2017 budget reduction plan would save more than $6.6 million, said Dwight L. Lindhorst, assistant superintendent of finance and facilities. The school board recently approved the plan, and it will take effect on July 1.
At the Tuesday meeting, dozens of parents, students, faculty and staff overflowed into the district’s central office lobby. There, some students played musical instruments, while others chanted, “Let us play.”
Reona Wise, a mother of six, has three children who attend schools in the district. “My first grader came home the other day and asked me could she give the change in her piggy bank to her gym teacher because he said he’s definitely going to have to leave,” Wise told The American. “It disrupts the students’ environment, because they’re aware of everything that’s going on and they want to fight for their teachers.”
A Hazelwood employee who did not want to be named said she had been with the district for more than 30 years and felt the approved budget reduction plan was done “under the table.”
According to the district, the plan came out of a budget advisory committee, which is a public group comprised of teachers, students, administrators and parents. The group began meeting three years ago.
A district spokesperson said the decision to approve the plan was “not done behind closed doors,” and that anyone was welcome to have joined the advisory committee.
Terence Bell, 36, who graduated from Hazelwood Central High School in 1997 and has nieces and nephews in the district, came to show support for keeping band and orchestra in the four elementary schools that will lose them next year.
“I went to the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff on a full-ride band scholarship,” Bell told The American. “From there I was a drum major, so this band program has helped me out my whole life.”
Stephanie Grimshaw, who watched her fourth grader play violin in the lobby during the meeting, said the budget reduction plan was “ridiculous.”
“My daughter has a learning disability, and orchestra gives her something she can build self-esteem about,” Grimshaw told The American. “She writes her own music now. She’s doing really, really good, and this is just one more thing the district is taking away from our kids.”
The reduction plan eliminates 16 physical education (PE) instructors. Officials said students will have one 60-minute PE class every four days. The State of Missouri only requires 50 minutes of PE per school week for elementary students.
The plan also cuts central office, warehouse and custodial positions. Lindhorst said the district tried to eliminate positions “as far away from students as possible.” By eliminating two assistant superintendent positions, getting rid of tuition reimbursement for administrators, and eliminating professional development for administrators, more than $900,000 will be saved, he said.
Lindhorst said the budget shortfall is mainly due to a loss of revenue from property taxes, which account for 42 percent of the district’s operating revenue. Since 2008, Lindhorst said property values throughout the district have decreased by 22 percent, or $15.7 million.
“That’s a large drop in revenue,” said Lindhorst.
Despite major cutbacks, Lindhorst said the district tries to maintain competitive salaries and benefits to “attract and retain” quality faculty, staff and administrators.
“The raises have contributed to the shortfall,” he said. “We were trying to bide our time and hope that revenue increased more than they have. It hasn’t happened, so here we are.”
To view the school district’s past financial reports, click here.
This story is published as part of a partnership between The American and The Huffington Post.
