Baker schools look for cuts to offset charter school, insurance and construction costs

Baker public school officials are looking to find big cost savings over the next month as they try to balance a budget thrown off kilter by higher enrollment in local charter schools, including a new one opening next month within the city limits.

Another financial drain has been Baker High School. Last month, the board finally agreed to rebuild the facility, which flooded in 2016, at a cost of $19.4 million. In so doing, it doubled from $1 million to $2 million the amount of money from its general operating reserves it was setting aside to pay for the project. On Tuesday, the Baker School Board agreed unanimously to pull another $973,500 from its reserves to cover the project.

Rising insurance costs are also straining the budget.

The district’s medical provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, recently upped the district premiums $133,431 overall for the 2022-23 fiscal year. On Tuesday, the School Board agreed to split that increase 50/50 with the district employees. On the most popular Premier Blue plan, monthly premiums for a single employee will increase from $195.05 to $231.51 while an employee with family will see that premium increase from $881.82 to $985.71.

Also another budget strain is anticipated from property insurance.

Business Manager Sidney Stewart told the board Tuesday that the best price quote she received recently was for $710,000, or about $181,000 more than the current fee. The board agreed to let her office try to negotiate a better price.

“Insurance rates went up drastically across the board,” Stewart explained. “It’s very hard to get quotes that are reasonable.”

A draft of the district’s 2022-23 budget was also discussed Monday at a special board work session at which no votes were taken. It’s not set to be voted on until August.

Just a month ago, Baker was projecting a balanced budget. The new draft projects revenue of $11.5 million but spending of $12.2 million.

Superintendent De’Ette Perry promised to balance spending with revenues, saying her staff have identified close to $1.2 million in potential savings already, but she did not offer specifics. She said she hopes to find even more ways to save in the weeks ahead.

“The budget will be a challenge,” Perry said. “I don’t say this will be easy, but it will be something that we can do.”

Competition from charter schools as well as fewer school-age children in general within the City of Baker are big contributors to Baker’s financial problems.

According to new state estimates, enrollment at 10 nearby charter schools and two state-run schools will top 500 students, an estimated increase of 78 students. That equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost state funding.

Baker enrollment, which has declined steadily over the past decade, fell by another 130 students over the past year and could decline even more this coming year.

The number of Baker children attending any public school fell over the past year from 1,543 to 1,491.

Baker recently added a third charter school, Geo Prep Baker. This K-8 charter school is operating at the old school facility previously home to Bethany Christian School on Plank Road and is starting this fall with just kindergarten and first grade. It will eventually educate an estimated 900 students in grades kindergarten to eight, perhaps as many as 1,080 students, which would make it larger than the entire Baker school district.

First year enrollment for the new charter school could be as much as 240 students. State officials are estimating that funding equivalent to 125 students will come from students living in Baker. The school has a charter that allows it to draw from any school district in Louisiana.

Baker city and school leaders strongly opposed Geo Prep Baker and publicly discussed litigation, but no lawsuit to date has been filed against the new charter school.