Having already cut well over $1 million from its 2010-2011 budget, the Archuleta School District 50 Joint appears to have done as well as can be expected dealing with those cuts and hopes to be over $100,000 to the good when next month’s state audit is completed.

Presenting the fourth quarter financial report at the Aug. 10 school board meeting, district Business Manager Janell Wood presented a picture of a district both solvent and responsible.

“Despite recessions,” Wood said, “we’re surviving.”

While appearing to be doing well with less, Wood’s report sounded a cautionary note, especially in light of three initiatives slated for the Nov. 2 general election ballot — Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61.

According to a report by The Bell Policy Center, a research and advocacy organization, the financial impact of the three initiatives would amount to a 48.7-percent reduction in the district’s funding. In terms of dollars, that cut would mean $4,307,685 less for the district, a $2,709.92 cut in per-pupil funding.

While Proposition 101 would slash taxes paid on motor vehicles by 98 percent, over half of the fees and taxes paid on those vehicles is allocated to Colorado schools.

Amendment 60 halves the amount of property tax revenues going to Colorado schools while Amendment 61 puts severe financial constraints on infrastructure construction and improvements, i.e. roads and schools.

Voters interested in what impact the three ballot initiatives will have on Archuleta County can visit www.lookingforwardcolorado.com/2010/06/archuleta-county.html to view PDF files regarding the financial effects Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 will have on Archuleta County.

Unable to comment one way or the other on whether to support or oppose the three ballot initiatives, Wood was nonetheless clear that the district would face a significant funding decrease if the measures pass in November.

Even if the initiatives are rejected by the voters this fall, the district could face an additional $1 million in funding cuts for the 2011-2012 school year on top of the $1.3 million cut from this year’s budget.

Unfortunately, the district has few options to offset funding cuts. School board director Joanne Irons told the board, “According to the district’s attorney, an increase in the mill levy or sales tax would mean that the district would get less money from the state.”

Long a point of contention between state officials and the district, the state’s funding formula, meant to equalize allocations for districts throughout Colorado, has locked Archuleta County into disbursements for education which, relative to wealthier counties, hardly reflect the economic realities of the majority of students in the district.

Also reporting that the district was in good shape as far as criteria laid out by the Colorado Department of Education for budgetary scrutiny, scoring low in one of four areas (where a low score in all four areas requires CDE intervention), Wood stated that she was confident that the district would not score low in a single area by next year.

Finally, due to provisions of Colorado House Bill 1361, the district now has budgets from this year and last year, along with quarterly budget reports, available on the district’s website. Available as PDF files, those reports and budgets can be viewed at www.pagosa.k12.co.us/admin/FiscalReports or by going to mypagosaschools.com and then clicking the ‘Financial Transparency’ link on the left-hand side of the page.

In an apparent move to provide some funding options for the district, the board unanimously approved the formation of an Education Foundation to support nonathletic extracurricular organizations (among them Destination ImagiNation, extracurricular music, drama and art programs). Funded through private donations and operating independently from the district, the foundation would provide financial support (in the way booster clubs fund team sports) for academic activities in the district, eliminating some of the district’s funding commitments for those organizations.

Residents interested in serving on the Education Foundation need to provide a letter of interest to the district’s secretary Robyn Bennett by Sept. 5 for consideration at the district’s Sept. 14 board meeting.

While an Education Foundation would most likely represent a nominal cost-saving measure for the district, its approval and formation represents the district’s attempt to pinch pennies wherever those savings can be a realized. And given the positive note state auditors provided the district last year, Wood sounded confident that the district will emerge from this year’s audit with a clean bill of health.

“If we can mirror that this year,” Wood said, “we will have gotten through difficult times.”

However, if voters approve Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 in November, the district (and the county) will certainly experience difficulties far beyond anything imagined.

The school district meets again Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. in the Pagosa Springs Middle School library.

jim@pagosasun.com