District's budgets show similarities

The last time Libby voters approved an increase in school funding, George W. Bush was in the second year of his first term as president and the country was still reeling from  9/11.

That was 2002, and Libby still had five schools.

Back then there were three Libby elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. There were 1,674 students in district schools, or about 39 percent more then than now.

In 2002, the General Fund budget was $7.78 million.

Today, the General Fund totals $7.695 million.

So, why the budget crunch with three school closings and fewer students?

“Things just cost more,” Superintendent K.W. Maki said. “Fuel and energy costs have continued to rise.”

 In 2002, there were 121 full-time teachers in the district for a student-teacher ratio of just more than 15:1. Currently, there are 88 full-time teachers who educate 1,134 students and that ratio has improved to nearly 13:1.

While there are 39 percent fewer students in the district now than 12 years ago, the number of teachers has dipped 27 percent.

Comparatively, there are now more teachers to students than 12 years ago, but graduation numbers in Libby are the best in the state with a 92.9 percentage rate.

There are other similarities between the two budgets, too.

Twelve years ago, the district budgeted $23,092 for adult education. The 2012-13 budget was rounded off to $23,000.

Also, the retirement allocation has remained about the same, $1.02 million in 2001 to $1.01 million for the current year.

In 2001, the district budget also included $166,863 to service its debt, and while there is no current debt on the books, the Transportation budget 12 years ago was $491,688. For the current year, the Transportation budget is $217,312 more or 44 percent higher.

“The Transportation budget is a big part of the expense,” District Finance Director Leslie Forster said. “It’s fuel costs and more.”

While the lion’s share of the General Fund — 83.8 percent — is spent on payroll and benefits, there are those who think that is not exorbitant.

“Salaries are the biggest part of this kind of budget,” said Tommy Cook, chairman of the Citizens Promoting Libby Schools. “I have received several comments about this. In this industry, it’s the feeling that to have a great educational system you have to pay for it. I do think the salaries our teachers get are commensurate with that of other districts.”