Dozens of area residents turned out for one of the last chances to hear contesting candidates for the Eanes school board at a forum sponsored by the Rollingwood Neighborhood Association April 29 at Rollingwood City Hall.

In a one-hour parley moderated by Westlake Picayune publisher Jay Plotkin, the candidates began with introductions and then answered queries submitted in writing prior to the Q&A session.

When asked if they supported a proposed Eanes school district $125 bond, Place 5 incumbent James (Kal) Kallison clarified that the district is not yet to the proposal stage of a bond process but is still reviewing the list of $125 million worth of possible projects to include on a proposal to voters. He said that board members would now begin the process of deciding what stays on a bond proposal and what does not.

Kallison said at this point he supported an elementary school package that includes building a new school on the River Hills property in the western realm of the district and repurposing the current Valley View Elementary School as a consolidated office to house central administration, district professional development and the child development center. He said he also supported a plan to repurpose the current district administration building to house the alternative education program and The Learning Center now housed in aging portable structures. Kallison also voiced support for the renovation of Eanes Elementary School and an estimated $7 million to make sure that district facilities comply with Americans with Disability Act standards. He said he did not support a proposed segregated facility to house certain special education students.

Challenger for the Place 5 board seat Sharman Reed said she thought the items included in the $125 bond review were “a little excessive and a little high.” She said the district needed to focus on needs, including things like a new roof at West Ridge Middle School, a new air conditioning system at Hill Country Middle School and repairs to the HCMS track.

“We need to get our financial house in order before looking at other fun projects,” she said.

Place 6 incumbent Mike Monnig said he supported every project in the bond listing, except the proposed new facility to house certain special education students away from home campuses.

“Everybody wants their particular thing,” he said, reiterating that the board is still in discussion as to what projects wind up on the proposal put before voters. “We’ve become exemplary at every school and as a district as a whole for the first time. The high school is the only four-year 5A school to achieve this. You don’t get exemplary by being cheap.”

Place 6 challenger Colleen Jones said she needed more information before deciding which bond projects to support. She said the district needed to carefully consider maintenance and operation costs and that administrators were predicting a deficit this year.

“At some point in time, we are going to have to run a zero deficit for budget for the school district,” Jones said. “Our budget right now is 85 percent salaries and 15 percent M&O. We need to make sure we still have the teachers and programs in place and don’t jeopardize those for maintenance and operations of new buildings.”

Jones advocated for a bond oversight committee that would include community members that could evaluate projects proposed and make sure they come in on time and under budget.

“When decisions have to be made because things have gone over budget, [there should be] communication with the taxpayers about why these decisions have been made,” Jones said.

Asked if he advocated for smaller class sizes and how the extra salaries and facilities necessary for those smaller classes could be paid for, Monnig said he was comfortable with the class sizes the district currently maintains – 22 students per teacher in elementary school as mandated by the state and 25 students per teacher in higher grades.

“Everybody would love to have 15 to 1 or 16 to 1, but to do that, you are going to have to start cutting programs,” Monnig said. “It’s going to cost you more. Right now that is something we really can’t afford to do.”

He said the district was working to help teachers in their classes with support of ideas like mentoring programs.

Jones said she felt it was important for the district to start the year with smaller class sizes to avoid going over maximum levels later in the year as students move in and out of the district.

“I don’t think 22 to 1 is a horrible class size,” she said. “I do think that when you get 23 or 24, it is a problem.”

Kallison said that data suggest that in order to get a payoff in student achievement, class sizes have to be reduced to 15 to 17 students.

“I want small classrooms; everyone does,” he said. “But you have to do so with two respects – fiscal responsibility, and you have to be informed by the data that indicates what level triggers higher achievement gains. To go to 15 or 16 would cost millions of dollars. We can’t afford it.”

Reed said that many classrooms include special education students and students with learning disabilities, which makes teaching harder for the teacher and the rest of the students in the room.

“I would hope we would keep (class size levels) no more than what we have now,” she said.

None of the candidates backed the closing of an elementary school, saying current enrollment numbers don’t support the option. All four candidates said they thought the district should continue its transfer policy, carefully weighing class sizes with the income-earning out-of-district students.

All candidates quoted a current district fund balance estimate of $34 million. Monnig clarified that $2.1 million of that amount was restricted for the purchase of real estate for district use.

Kallison said that he does not believe the district should dip below an $18 million reserve – an estimate of three months worth of operating expenses. He said the board has asked district superintendent Nola Wellman to come up with various scenarios showing alternative cuts and fund balance draws to pay for projects. He said that after reviewing that information, he could make an informed decision on how much to spend from the fund balance and what to spend it on.

Jones said the district could have less than two years left of fund balance draws, and that she believes it faces hard decisions when it hits a zero fund balance availability point.

“An expert came to our district and told us we could never have enough in our fund balance,” she said, adding that she wants to protect teachers and programs.

“The fund balance is our savings account,” Monnig said. “[You] don’t want to spend it if you don’t have to. If you have to dig into it, you start cutting back on the things you don’t need the most, and that’s what we are going to do.”

Reed said the district has allocated a $4.6 fund balance draw for the 2010-11 school year.

“If you continue to go into your fund balance and use your savings, it is an unsustainable situation,” she said. “You can’t continue to go down that road.”

Reed said she believes the district will be faced with cutting salaries, and that she would make cuts the furthest away from students first.

The four candidates will meet one last time before Election Day on Friday at 8:45 a.m. at Forest Trail Elementary School.