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At a special school board meeting last week, parents, students and community leaders from the Ray Unified School district pleaded with the board not to cut the JRTOC program that is offered at Ray High School. The drastic cuts are coming due to a budget deficit of $110,000 which will affect the budget for the 2015-16 school year.
Several parents and students asked the board to give them more time to raise funds to keep the program. Parent Michael Hing urged the board to think “creatively like he had to do when he was Mayor of Superior.” He also reminded the board to consider the value of the public service that that ROTC provides in the community, not just the cost of the program. Several students also commented about how the program and the teachers involved with the program positively affect their lives.
School Superintendent Curt Cook and Business Manager Joann Wormwood reviewed the budget process and explained how the deficit came to be. Due to a declining enrollment and decreased funding from the state, the district will be facing a $110,000 deficit. Cook explained that they did several calculations to determine which programs could be cut to meet the shortfall. At this time with only 15 students participating, ROTC is the most expensive program to run. To fund the program for a year, it costs the district $68,952 which means the program costs $3,500 per student. ASARCO does contribute about $10,000 to the program annually, Cook has submitted a letter to the company asking for $25,000 for the program next year.
Programs like Art and Band cost considerably less per student because more students participate in the programs. The board members all expressed their concern to have to cut any programs but due to the budget shortfall. The board encouraged parents to bring ideas forward to Cook that could possibly help maintain the program.
The board adjourned into an executive session. Before entering executive session they explained that they would not be taking any action on the budget cuts at this meeting. The Ray Unified School Governing Board will meet on Tuesday, May 12, at 6 p.m. to vote on budgetary cuts for the school year.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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