The message below was written this evening from Philip Price, DPI Associate Superintendent for Business and Financial Services, to School Finance Officers. Please also find attached a document comparing the various budget proposals.

The Senate Budget is on the move. Unfortunately, for K-12 public
schools, the news is not good. As diesel fuel prices push way past $4
per gallon, the Senate increased the fuel budget by a net of $8 million
or $0.32 per gallon for a budget of $2.15 per gallon. This leaves a
$48+ million hole in the Budget. Along with the Senate's elimination
of reserves for ADM adjustments and children with disabilities, and the
utilization of reversions for additional teaching positions needed for
BRAC activity and additional teachers for small schools, we do not
believe we will have the reversions available to cover these shortages.

If the Senate Budget passes as it is currently written, we will need to
withhold some of your Initial Allotments to assure that funding is
available to cover fuel and student population growth needs. This
reduction likely will be managed similar to the negative reserve from a
few years ago. We do not have a firm amount that will be withheld; but,
we estimate the reduction would need to be in the $40 to $60 million
range.

We also need to communicate some bad news for teachers. We hoped the
Senate would add funding to the ABC Incentive awards to be more in line
with projected needs. However, the additional $1 million they added
will not help much with the projected shortage. If Incentive Award
needs come even close to what the Department of Public Instruction
projects ($107 million), the $71 million would require a reduction in
ABC Bonus levels. Our current estimates would reduce the awards per
teacher and teaching assistant by 34%. For example, the $1,500 bonus for
teachers in high growth schools might need to be prorated to $995.

More details will come your way tomorrow; but, we wanted to give you an
early warning as to what was in the Senate Budget.

2008/09 Budget Comparison-Senate (2)