Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Schools budget is too big


Are you aware that the Blaine County School District is outspending the average school district in Idaho by 215 percent? The District 61 per-pupil cost is $13,777. The state average is $6,393, a difference of $7,384 per pupil. We are outspending Jerome by more than $8,000 per pupil, or 270 percent. According to the Heritage Foundation, District 61 is probably right at the top with New York and New Jersey in per-pupil expenditures on education in the whole nation.

Twin Falls' estimated upcoming budget is $62.8 million for approximately 7,300 students. Blaine County's budget is $74 million for more than 3,000 students. Twin Falls is budgeting to educate 4,000 more students for $12 million less. District 61's spending has grown $30 million in nine years and the student enrollment has only increased approximately 300 students. That is $100,000 per additional student.

If there is any correlation between spending and achievement-test scores, Blaine County student's scores should be soaring off the end of the graph.

It should be pretty easy to pare $10 million to $15 million out of the district's spending each year. This money could go to the Recreation District to fund a golf course, or perhaps a better swimming pool for children and adults alike in Hailey. The District 61 surplus this year is $12 million to $15 million.

The operational arm of our school district could be reduced immensely by bidding a lot of the services and eliminating the speculative home-building arm of the district. After all, isn't it an educational institution?

One recently elected school board member campaigned on getting the public involved in our schools. This is a must and I would hope an accountant or an auditor might get involved because $74 million is a whole lot of money to spend every year.

Tom Richmond Sr.

Blaine County




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