Though sequestration took effect last spring, many school districts felt the pain of losing federal dollars this fall, and schools on military bases face even deeper budget cuts that could impact their bus service.
Sequestration refers to the automatic federal spending cut of 5 percent affecting federal agencies and the nation’s public schools. This loss of funding may be double for schools under the umbrella of the Department of Defense Education Activity. The DoDEA operates nearly 70 schools in the U.S., with 34,000 students and 4,600 employees. Schools on military bases are on nontaxable government land so they do not receive local property tax revenue and must rely heavily on federal aid.
Elaine Kanellis, deputy chief of communications, told STN that DoDEA funding for pupil transportation was reduced by 10 percent for 2013-2014 throughout its school operation worldwide, and this includes school bus service.
“Each region is addressing how to best implement this funding reduction,” said Kanellis.
She noted the DoDEA cannot speculate about a future decrease or increase in funding because it has yet to receive a fiscal year 2014 budget, which covers most of the current school year. If there were a budget loss, it would be unclear what part is attributed to federal sequestration, she explained.
The deal passed by Congress last month to end the recent two-week government shutdown allowed the automatic budget cuts to continue through Jan. 15. At present, there is no significant movement in Congress to rescind the sequester, which could last for a decade.
The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) conducted a survey of its members last year to try to measure just how devastating sequestration would be within schools that educate the children of military personnel and those residing on federal Indian lands. The Impact Aid program established in 1950 provides a payment to these school districts because they are financially impacted by the presence of the federal government.
NAFIS conducted the nonscientific survey with the American Association of School Administrators, and 334 school districts responded. According to their September 2012 report, 36 percent of respondents — mainly school superintendents — budgeted the sequester cut into the 2012-2013 school year.
“The percentage of districts that have adjusted for the cut in the upcoming year (2013-2014) remains consistent for school districts serving military populations (35 percent),” stated the report. “More than 40 percent of these school districts said they would cut bus transportation routes and availability as a result of this cut.”
Budgeting for 2013 and Beyond
Earlier this year NAFIS conducted a follow-up survey focusing on a select group of Impact Aid recipients from the top 100 list compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics. Forty-five of the 72 school districts that were contacted took part in the survey.
Aside from personnel cuts, results showed that delaying purchases was the most common way in which these schools prepared for the current school year, followed by cuts to transportation and deferring maintenance and/or facility upgrades.
“We expect that reductions will become more severe as reserve accounts are depleted over time,” stated the report “The Sequester’s Impact on Vulnerable Schools,” published in July.
The Impact Aid program has been reduced for this school year, as it was last year, but all other education programs are now subject to sequestration, including the cornerstone federal K-12 programs, Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), NAFIS said.
Helen Payne, superintendent of North Hanover Township School District in New Jersey — which participated in the latest NAFIS survey — told STN the district lost $550,000 in fiscal year 2013 due to the sequester.
“A small amount of this is Title I and IDEA, but mostly it is Impact Aid. We are an Impact Aid district, which is current-year funded and subject annually to appropriations. We felt the cuts immediately,” said Payne.
She added that school officials remain uncertain about FY 2014 but estimate losing $1.2 to $1.5 million.
“The amount that will be appropriated by Congress for Impact Aid is unknown. The lower the appropriation, the less we will receive in Impact Aid, separate and apart from the sequester cuts,” she explained.
For example, three years ago, North Hanover received $10 million in Impact Aid on a fairly steady annual basis, Payne continued, yet received just $7.2 million last year. She anticipates “a little bit more” in delayed payments pending, so they could top out at around $7.5 million.
“This is still a big difference and the difference is not just because of sequestration, but because of reduced appropriations in general,” she said.
So far the transportation department has not cut any bus routes but Payne pointed out it is on the table. The department currently owns six vehicles, employs six drivers and has 44 routes, most of which are subcontracted. All of the students ride the yellow bus, a total of 1,290.
“For FY14, we rerouted to be as efficient as possible, but did not cut any routes,” Payne said. “For FY15, though, we are considering eliminating routes for most of our students who live and attend school on the military base because their homes are within walking distance to the school. This would represent about six to eight routes. The rest of our district is rural, so we cannot cut the routes.”
Funding Streams Slowing Down
Another NAFIS survey respondent, Fairborn City (Ohio) School District, serves the children from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Pam Gayheart, district spokesperson, said in FY 2014 the district received $178,788 less in Title 1 funding and $29,317 less in IDEA-B funding than in the prior year.
“Our funding is driven by the number of students who meet funding qualifications in these categories. If the funding is not available, costs are absorbed into the General Fund because these students must be served,” Gayheart explained. “So, the actual impact of sequestration is unclear regarding Title 1 and IDEA-B.”
This loss of funding has not led to reductions in school bus service for IDEA, Title I or any other students, she added.
“There has been no impact on our transportation,” said Gayheart. “We have already maximized our transportation services.”
Lackland Independent School District, which serves students from Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, eliminated the only pre-kindergarten program in the district due to sequester cuts, according to NAFIS. Dr. Burnie L. Roper, Lackland’s superintendent, recently spoke to Texas Public Radio about other impacts of sequestration. Roper did not return STN phone calls at press time.
The superintendent stated that he is currently operating at 65 percent of his budget because of new cuts to the Impact Aid program.
“So we’re having to make all kinds of cuts to try to make up for that … cuts in personnel and programs,” Roper said.
Kanellis of the DoDEA cautioned that some recent articles are based on outdated government reports, such as this article’s information on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. She said the statement about the Pentagon announcing furloughs of at least two weeks for its entire civilian workforce — including teachers, principals, administrators, and other year-round employees — is simply not accurate.
“Our principals and teachers were not furloughed. Students did not lose one day of school, and schools on Fort Bragg were not closed. No DoDEA schools were closed anywhere, and no teachers were furloughed,” Kanellis clarified.
The only individuals furloughed were 11- and 12-month employees who were sent home for five and six days, respectively. She said the vast majority of these employees were principals, superintendents or above-school-level staff such as herself. So, no one experienced a two-week furlough, and all DoDEA schools will have a full school year for 2013-2014.
