Community Schools program fights for its life

• Council explores ways to keep “heartbeat of the community” going

By Aaron Selbig
Homer Tribune

To be or not to be a “core” city service? When it comes to wrangling over the size and scope of proposed cuts to the City of Homer’s 2010 budget, that is the question.
Homer Community Schools Coordinator Mike Illg says his popular, city-run program definitely belongs in the conversation.
“It’s more than just a recreation program … it’s the heartbeat of the community,” said Illg. “We are an incubator of small businesses. People are generating money through Community Schools for their own livelihood, whether they are teaching karate or yoga or how to make jewelry.”
Illg said he is very sympathetic to the funding shortfall, “but at the same time, when people vote in something, it says a lot. It means a lot,” he said.
In 2006, Homer voters – by a more than two-to-one vote – approved a city takeover of the long-running Community Schools program. It had previously been operated by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Because the city does not have a parks department, Community Schools was placed under the Department of Administration and Illg, who had coordinated the program since 2002, was hired as a city employee.
While Illg remains the program’s sole full-time worker, 50 contracted instructors and 25 regular volunteers make Community Schools run. In addition to providing Homer-area residents access to school facilities for activities like basketball and soccer, the program offers instruction on everything from fencing to silversmithing to Irish step dancing.
Last year, Community Schools attracted more than 4,000 participants to 226 programs, classes and events, bringing in about $30,000 in revenue.
Even with a recent hike in user fees, however, and an additional $3,000 brought in from selling advertising in the program’s biannual course catalog, Community Schools still costs the city more than $60,000 per year to run.
In tough economic times and with the city facing $1.3 million in cuts, it’s an untenable situation, said City Manager Walt Wrede, who put elimination of Community Schools funding on a long list of deep cuts in his proposed 2010 budget.
Members of the Homer City Council, who have been debating Wrede’s proposed cuts for weeks and will have to submit a finalized budget by Dec. 21, made Community Schools their top priority for discussion at their last budget meeting Oct. 12.
“If we were to increase the fees by at least 50 percent, what would that take out of what we have to budget?” asked council member Beth Wythe.
The problem with fee increases, replied city Personnel Director Sherri Hobbs, is that they tend to drive participation down dramatically, particularly in the case of more expensive courses like Introductory Silversmithing, which requires a $25 fee in addition to a $125 instructor fee.
“What about a higher fee for non-city residents?” asked council member Dennis Novak. “There are a lot of people outside the city limits who feel strongly about Community Schools.”
A differential rate for city and non-city users would probably raise legal issues, Wrede replied.
Would it be possible to turn the program over to another entity, such as a nonprofit group?
“The short answer is no,” said Illg. “We looked at that but … the school district said they want someone who is qualified and has the structure behind it. For liability purposes, they didn’t want a nonprofit running Community Schools.”
“I just don’t think it’s going to be possible to defray the costs completely,” Wrede said.
Illg said council members should factor in the value of in-kind donations received by Community Schools – including more than $60,000 worth of donated volunteer hours and $30,000 worth of custodial fees that are waived by the school district – when they examine the program’s bottom line.
The cost of using school facilities alone would top $100,000 in rental fees, if not for the Community Schools program’s arrangement with the school district, said Illg.
“People just don’t realize how much Community Schools is an important part of this community,” he said. “The only way people will know is if it goes away.”
Wrede agreed.
“Without Community Schools and the Boys and Girls Club, there just isn’t a whole lot in this town for kids to do,” he said. “It definitely diminishes the whole community.”

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Posted by Newsroom on Oct 21st, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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