Lewis:

Governor's

budget will

affect ALC

Program for grades 7-9 at risk

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Governor Tim Pawlenty's budget, if adopted, would have a significant impact on the River Bend Area Learning Center, potentially leading to the elimination of its grades 7-9 program, according to the ALC director, Dr. Gary Lewis.

The governor's budget would eliminate funding for independent study, summer, after-school and weekend classes, as well as "compensatory funding" based on the number of low-income students, Lewis says. These sources generated $122,000 of income for the center in 2002 and will generate $135,000 of income this year, with a comparable impact expected in future years.

The money shortage would force the ALC to cut programs and look for ways to enhance income, says Lewis. To cut costs, Lewis is considering recommending the elimination of the midlevel program that serves grades 7-9. The program, which now has a capacity of 16 students, is co-taught and currently operates at a significant loss (it is subsidized by the programs that the governor would cut), says Lewis. Savings would result from eliminating the jobs of the midlevel instructor, an educational assistant and a part-time remedial reading teacher. Also under consideration is reducing the coordinator's and the secretary's contracts from 12 months to 205 days, Lewis says. These cuts would shave a total of $93,408 from the budget, based on current salaries and fringes.

To increase revenue, the ALC could change the Senior High program from grades 10-12 to grades 9-12, expanding the student base and, in this way, the basic funding that comes with each student. With the same idea in mind, the midlevel classroom could change to a math/electives classroom. (The math teacher currently travels between classrooms on a space-available basis). The ALC could also offer independent study courses to students who are not in school now and so do not generate per-pupil funding. In all, these program changes could increase the capacity of the day program by eight students, generating some $48,000 in basic per-student aid.

Also, should the center be able to employ a licensed math instructor, the current staff member filling the job would be transferred back to the Day Treatment Program. Because of this staff member's education and experience, replacement by a less experienced teacher could save up to $10,500 plus fringes, Lewis also says.

Lewis says there is another approach to dealing with the budget crisis: making up the loss of state aid by billing local school districts for evening independent study. There is a rationale for doing that, he notes. Evening independent study courses provide a chance to students who would otherwise most likely drop out of school. Dropout numbers adversely affect the basic funding received by local school districts. So, it can be argued that independent study helps enhance local district revenue, Lewis says. But he also admits this option may be hard to sell to local school boards which are also strapped for money.

"River Bend will survive," Lewis stressed Monday. "But it is important to realize that while the [state budget] cuts are often being portrayed as not hurting education, because of these cuts, 50 to 60 students in the three-county area served by River Bend may be unable to receive a high-school diploma."