The Washoe County School District is hosting a forum on e-funding priorities of the district. The forum comes after the district asked the public to complete a survey asking them questions like which programs they would like to see cut first.
WCSD has had a structural deficit for 10 years, meaning their costs are higher than their revenue. The district is projected to run a $22 to $28 million deficit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, and they need to send a finalized, balanced budget to the state by June 8.
Katy Simon Holland, President of WCSD Board of Trustees, says this is the first step of a long, difficult process, of choosing what programs to cut, considering they all have at least some positive impact.
"Everything is on the table except for those things that are required by law to do," Simon Holland says.
A total of 2,202 surveys were completed for the three weeks it was open online. Two of the most popular answers for areas to cut back are administrative costs and academic assessment of students. While Simon Holland agrees those are both areas that could use some cost-reduction, it's not that simple with some things like student assessment.
"There is a tremendous amount of time that's spent in testing in our school district," Simon Holland said. "But much of that is required for us to do. So are there ways that we can have it cost less, have less of an impact."
Following the presentation of the current budget and the survey results, community members who attended were split up into small groups to further discuss solutions and areas the district can cut. Principal for George Westergard Elementary School Katie Louise Weir says she hoped to see more people tonight, but was happy to see a diverse crowd who were engaging.
"I think what was nice about this evening was that everyone had a chance for their voice to be heard," Simon Holland said. "We were split into groups and everyone was able to give their perspective either as a staff member, a community member, a parent."
The first tentative balanced budget has to be submitted to the state by April 15, so there will be many more public sessions discussing next year's budget. That includes several more forums over the course of the next few weeks.
The forum will be held at Sun Valley Elementary School from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.Â
