>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

ELGIN — The Elgin School Board will not need a whetstone for its budget cutting ax this spring.

Bolstered by increasing enrollment, the Elgin School District’s 2008-09 budget outlook is solid but not robust.

Elgin Superintendent Larry Glaze is proposing that the district adopt a proposed 2008-09 general fund budget of $4,853,124. The budget would provide enough to cover increasing costs and allow the district to avoid making any program or personnel cuts.

“This will allow us to operate in the coming year without significant changes,’’ Glaze said.

The budget outlook appears solid because the district’s enrollment is projected to be up about 17 students in 2008-09. Enrollment has an enormous impact on school districts’ budgets since they receive most of their state funding based on their number of students. The state is increasing what school districts will receive per student by $200 in 2008-09. This means Elgin will receive $6,323 per student from the state in 2008-09.

The Elgin district will receive $3.23 million from the state in 2008-09, about $284,000 more than it is getting this year, due to the enrollment increase and the $200-per-student boost.

Included in Elgin’s proposed general fund budget of $4.85 million is $425,000 from a loan the district may get via a federal program. The loan would be used to pay for major maintenance projects over the next five years.

The $425,000 would cover:

• at Elgin High School: repair of the track, replacement of the roof, the purchase of energy-efficient windows and computer upgrades.

• at Stella Mayfield School: brick work, the replacement of doors, carpet, lockers and the playground’s blacktop, as well as the purchase of energy-efficient windows.

The loan would also cover electrical upgrades and the purchase of new classroom furniture at both schools.

These projects would be completed over a five-year period. Glaze said this work must done soon because the district has been delaying maintenance projects for years because of tight budgets. He said it is critical to address maintenance issues soon because of escalating costs.

“Things have been deferred. If we don’t start catching up soon, we will not be able to catch up,’’ he said.

Budget committee and school board member Bud Scoubes agrees.

“This would be a major step,’’ Scoubes said. “We are just losing ground (on maintenance projects) every year, and costs have skyrocketed.’’

The district is applying for a loan from the federal Qualified Zone Academy Bond program. Banks participating in the program receive a 5 percent federal tax credit for making loans to school districts. The banks in turn charge little or no interest to districts for the loans. Glaze said 1.5 percent would be the highest interest rate the Elgin School District would have to pay for a QZAB loan.

Should Elgin get the $425,000 loan it would make payments of $35,000 a year for 12 to 16 years. Glaze said the district will be in better position to make the payments because it has little debt.

“The district does not have a heavy debt load. It would be going in with a clean slate,’’ Glaze said.

The Elgin School District is working with the financial company of McLiney & Co. of Kansas City, Mo., to find a bank to provide its QZAB loan. McLiney & Co. is also working to get permission from the Oregon Department of Education for Elgin to participate in the program.

An interesting QZAB twist is that school districts in the program must establish a partnership with a private sector donor. The firm must provide 10 percent of the amount the school district will receive through the loan program via an in-kind contribution.

Elgin’s private sector partner would be Learning.com of Portland, which has agreed to donate $42,500 in computer software through the QZAB program. McLiney & Co. secured Learning.com, a provider of web-delivered curriculum and assessment items, as Elgin’s private sector partner.

The intent of the QZAB private donor requirement is to strengthen ties between public schools and private enterprise to improve services to students.

The QZAB program has been in place since 1996. Funding for it must be reauthorized each year by Congress. QZAB funding has not yet been reauthorized by Congress for 2008-09, but this is expected to soon occur.

Elgin’s budget committee has been presented with the district’s proposed $4.85 million 2008-09 budget. The budget committee will later vote on whether to recommend that the school board adopt the budget.