Wyden Funds Sunsetting

Looking at our future financial picture as a School District, I presented the following information to the Board of Trustees for consideration:

Financial Considerations
Maintenance of Existing Buildings v. New PreK-Grade 8 Facility

1. HB 743 State mandate for building maintenance
- Existing buildings @ 83,394 sq. ft. with current annual cost of $133,430.40
- New Facility @ 78,615 sq. ft. with NO required mandate for first 10 years, then est. $125,784.00 annually.

Savings over first 10 years: $1,257,840.00 ($126,000.00 per year) with annual cost savings thereafter est. $7,647.00 per year.

2. Utility savings (excluding electrical), including propane, water/sewer, and custodial supplies at $62,394.00 per year.

3. Wyden Forest Funds sunset this year. I have placed an annual cap on expenditures from Wyden funds at $325,000.00 this year and the next two years, for a total of three years of operating costs. This represents the majority of our maintenance budget, including utilities, salaries, and building repairs. No major projects are in the budget for the next three years. This leaves our budget in the 2013-14 school year short by the above amount. This leaves the district with some difficult options:
A. Absorb the M&O costs into the budget by cutting programs/salaries.
B. Reduce M&O costs by closing one or more of our schools.
C. Reduce M&O costs by replacing existing schools with a new facility.
D. Hope for an economic upturn that increases state revenue to the district in the above amount.
Note that these options are based on expenditures remaining constant, not increasing.

4. Major repair projects (exceeding $100,000) could potentially shorten the three-year time frame in item 3 above. For example, the cost of replacing the Middle School roof (a current and relatively urgent need) is $280,000.00 to $300,000.00 and would shorten the window for Wyden funds by one year.

5. Certain catastrophic failures (plumbing/electrical) that in a more modern building would not represent a major repair cost do carry a high price tag in the existing buildings and could become major repair projects.

In short, we have a limited window in which to consider options. It is critical that the School Board develop a plan with the community to plan for the pending financial situation brought about by the loss of Wyden Forest funds and/or the imminent need for major project repairs on the existing buildings.


The School Board will be discussing a strategic plan for temporary and permanent closure of buildings based on safety and cost in the October work session, October 24th at the Salmon Middle School.