Schools Prove Savings Through the State Budget

Peg Geegan, Superintendent of Marshfield Public Schools

'Given the cost savings with health insurance and the turnover with staff and new hires, we will be able to preserve our programs and come up with a balanced budget,' Peg Geegan, superintendent of Marshfield School District, told the Marshfield News Herald." 
Marshfield Public Schools are running a 6,100,ooo deficit between this school and next.

According to the Wisconsin Reporter, "Gov. Scott Walker‘s administration said it sees strong proof from schools that the 2011 budget is working.

Even with $800 million in cuts to public education in the $66 billion state budget, the administration has compiled a list of school districts reporting that they have saved money – mostly by implementing the state’s public union collective bargaining reform law.

In a statement Monday, Walker said schools statewide have reported about $220 million in savings, with greater savings expected in the coming years.

Dan Rossmiller, director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Wisconsin Association of School Boards, told Wisconsin Reporter that the changes in collective bargaining create opportunities for savings.

“The question is, are the savings that the school districts are able to generate enough to offset the cuts in revenue limits? And the answer is, it will be decided on a case-by-case basis, district by district,” Rossmiller said.

Much of the savings reported in the governor’s release came from districts changing health insurance companies and state workers paying 12.8 percent toward their health-care costs and 5.8 percent toward their retirement.

'In general, the districts that did not require teachers to pay very much of their premiums have more flexibility now,' Rossmiller said.

In a survey by the MacIver Institute, a conservative research group based in Wisconsin, switching from WEA Trust as the health-care provider brought much of the savings reported in the school budgets.

Edgerton School District Superintendent Dennis Pauli, told Gazette Xtra that simply by switching health-care providers, the district could save up to $500,000 during the next year.

'Given the cost savings with health insurance and the turnover with staff and new hires, we will be able to preserve our programs and come up with a balanced budget,' Peg Geegan, superintendent of Marshfield School District, told the Marshfield News Herald."

source: http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/schools-prove-savings-through-the-state-budget