These are some of the programs the Christina school board has voted to eliminate, should the district’s June 9 referendum fail:
All sports.
Marching band.
The Chinese immersion program.
Clubs like student council, chess club, Science Olympiad — anything that requires a teacher sponsor.
The school newspaper. Yearbook.
Elementary strings.
The elementary gifted program.
In early May, the district preemptively made sweeping cuts in order to avoid a nearly $10 million deficit in the event that the referendum fails.
The cuts include a slew of teaching positions, academic supports, and programs that have drawn a number of out-of-district families into a district that has faced dwindling enrollment.
But buried in two budget lines, the district also cut the bulk of student activities outside of the classroom, by getting rid of “extra pay for extra responsibility,” or the extra salary teachers get for taking on responsibilities like overseeing clubs, directing the marching band, or coaching athletics.
Extra pay for extra responsibility covers such a wide range of teacher duties that even board members aren’t entirely clear on how far-reaching the cuts are to students’ experience out of the classroom.
Over a series of board meetings, teachers, parents and even students pleaded with the board not to cut the programs. But the cuts needed to be made to avoid overcrowding in core academic classes, board members said. Already, the district has had to make allowances for larger class sizes after last year’s cuts to teaching staff.
Academic and athletic extra pay amount to $625,000 of the nearly $10 million in approved cuts. The district also cut athletic transportation, saving an additional $368,000.
“When you’re trying to find $10 million, you’ve got to find it some place,” board member Fred Polaski said. “By cutting extra pay for extra responsibility, the district has essentially eliminated most extracurricular activities.”
Should the referendum pass, the district plans to reinstate the cuts.
PAST COVERAGE: Christina OKs nearly $10 million in cuts should referendum fail
One of the biggest items on the chopping block is sports. If the referendum doesn’t pass, all athletic programs at the district’s three high schools – Christiana, Newark and Glasgow – would be eliminated.
Christiana athletic director Jennifer Mayer has been fielding questions from students and parents daily. She doesn’t like the answers she has to give.
“Most of it is disbelief,” Mayer said. “Is it true? I get that question 90 percent of the time. I have to tell them, ‘Yes, it’s true.’ Kids don’t come to school to go to math class. They come to school because they want to see their friends. Most kids come to school because of something else, be it sports, music, arts.”
The scope of the cuts caught Newark athletic director Jason Bedford by surprise.
“We originally heard junior varsity sports would be cut, middle school sports would be cut,” Bedford said. “We were never anticipating that it was going to be the entire athletic departments in all three high schools.”
Bedford’s son, Tyler, plays on the baseball team at Newark. Like all spring sports athletes across Delaware, the sophomore lost this season due to the coronavirus. Now, all of the Yellowjackets could lose all sports.
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“If I’m an athlete, I don’t know that I can actually wrap my head around the significance, the impact it would have on me as a child of that age,” Jason Bedford said.
Newark football coach Jody Russell is stressing patience among his team.
“Some of my players have voiced concern about what is going to happen,” Russell said. “As a coach, I just try to say, ‘Hey, let’s see how this plays out.’ Hopefully the referendum passes and then everything else is normal.”
The district’s arts programs will also take a hit, primarily in the music department. Some music classes will still be offered, but students will not be able to take part in extra activities like marching band.
The elementary strings program, which offers fifth graders music lessons free of charge, will also be cut. The program makes band and orchestra more accessible to students who might not otherwise be able to afford music lessons.
“It sets up a cohort of students to feed into the middle school music programs,” said board member Claire O’Neal. “If you take away elementary instrumental music, you’re effectively taking away the middle school music program as well. It’s going to be devastating for the entire music program over time.”
This is the second year in a row that the district has had to make steep cuts in the face of a deficit, after last year’s referendum loss resulted in the elimination of 63 teaching positions.
LAST YEAR'S CUTS: After failed referendum, Christina School District eliminates 63 positions
The June 9 referendum includes both operating and capital tax increases. The operating referendum would bring in $21.7 million in annual funding after three years of tiered tax increases. Voters also have the option to pass a second increase that would bring in an additional $2.78 million in funding.
In total, residents are voting on up to $24.5 million in funding after three years, which would result in an average tax increase of $282.04 for homes assessed at $64,100. The money would cover future operating expenses, additional programs and restore past cuts.
The capital portions would bring in up to $10 million in local bonds, which would be combined with a state share of $11.4 million to go toward various construction projects.
Should all four sections of the referendum pass, the average homeowner can expect a projected tax increase of $289.88 after three years.
Christina’s cautionary cuts and the need to pass a referendum reflect what’s become commonplace in Delaware education funding. Property tax values haven’t been reassessed in decades, meaning the tax base has remained flat while operating costs have skyrocketed.
Because of this, the only way for school districts to fund rising local costs is by continuing to raise local property taxes.
School districts continually needing to ask residents to raise taxes not only creates an antagonistic relationship between the district and the community, but also forces the district to decide which aspects of education it values most when having to make cuts after a lost referendum, education leaders in the state have said.
“It’s really unfortunate,” said board member Claire O’Neal. “By giving voters the flexibility to say no, it makes voters think they should say no. It sets up this animosity between voters and districts.”
Referendum votes have turned into a litmus test of how much faith the community has in its school district. But Christina hasn’t won a referendum in four years, and the district continues to struggle to fund the programs that help market a school district in a county with a heavy consolidation of choice options.
RELATED: Brad Myers: Missing everything about spring sports in Delaware
Board members have already considered a future referendum should the June vote fail. But even if the district were to win a second attempt, the cuts already made would still stand. Any changes to the tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year need to be made by the end of June, the board has been told.
“We just have to keep coming back and asking for referenda, until finally one passes and we move forward and restore these programs,” O’Neal said. “Otherwise, there’s just not enough local funding to support the programs the community wants and deserves. This all sounds very severe because it is.”
Natalia Alamdari covers education for The News Journal. You can reach her at (302) 324-2312 or nalamdari@delawareonline.com.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
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