In the Flagstaff Unified School District, more than 100 employees and a dozen student programs are supported by an already-fading budget override that area voters recently said they no longer want to keep funding.

As a result, next year FUSD's maintenance and operations budget will be down about $3.8 million, and that's not taking into account more presumed cuts in state aid.

That loss in revenue will grow to $5.7 million a year in FY2011-12.

Keeping class size down and offering art, music, P.E., drama, responsible thinking, nursing and honors account for 108.5 full-time equivalent positions.

District leaders haven't detailed where or how deep they plan to make reductions, but Superintendent Kevin Brown has often said that about 90 percent of the $64 million "M&O" budget is devoted to personnel. So with the twin challenge of state cuts — estimated at up to $2.7 million this winter and between $5 million and $13 million next year — officials do say that layoffs, program cutbacks and building closure or repurposing cannot be avoided anymore.

"If you don't have enough money you can't field (a) program," said district athletic director George Moate, whose coaches and players might have to soon grapple with rising participation fees and fewer non-varsity sports offerings. "I don't know any other way around it."

DRAMA SMALL BUT LOVED

High school drama is a small piece of the budgetary pie, but one fiercely beloved by students who make it the center of their extracurricular lives.

Theater teacher Rosemary Groves and her actors and technicians at Sinagua High School aren't sure if this fall's drama, the Tennessee Williams classic "The Glass Menagerie," will be their last. They were sad about the possibility last week as they polished lines and touched up paint on their hand-crafted set.

"I'm not going to paint a rosy picture, because it's not going to be a rosy picture," Groves said pragmatically.

Groves has been in FUSD for about 15 years, coming on board right after a 1995 override restored the district drama program. She struggled at first to reignite interest in theater, but now Sinagua has the most active drama program among Flagstaff's three high schools: fall and spring productions and about 60 students between her two classes, plus a few students who go out for plays but don't take a class. The drama club drew about 20 students at its first meeting of the year and only a few didn't come back.

Combined, the district's drama salary commitment is $76,604. Flagstaff, Coconino and Sinagua all have a drama teacher, but none is full-time in theater — Groves, for example, teaches half-time at Sinagua and spends the other half of her day as the librarian at South Beaver Elementary.

$300 A YEAR

Groves said her production budget is only $300 per year, and she has already spent $260 of it on royalties to the publisher of "The Glass Menagerie." Tax credit donations and personal funds take care of other expenses. (By contrast, Groves said, when she was teaching middle school drama in a poor Texas school district in the early 1990s, she got $1,200 to put on plays.)

Groves said drama gives students confidence and allows performers to connect directly with their audience the way musicians or singers in an ensemble might not. It's also good for the youngsters for whom her students regularly perform, especially during their districtwide children's show in the spring.

"I think that every child should be on stage once in their life," she said.

Junior David Scandura said he always liked to perform, and can't imagine how a town with a thriving arts community — local bands, an orchestra, dance troupes and amateur theater, though largely geared toward children or adults — couldn't have high school drama. When he channeled the angst of his character Tom in a moody scene with the girl playing his overbearing mother, Groves leaned over and whispered "He's fabulous," and added that he needs to pursue acting in college.

Junior Sarah Guillet, in costume as the emotionally fragile and awkward Laura, sings soprano in the school choir and is in several clubs. But drama is her passion.

"I can't even imagine high school without theater, actually," she said. "I plan everything around the plays."

Sarah heard about the override's defeat the next morning, and she said it brought down her whole day just thinking that drama might be cut.

"That's really the worst part, I think, is just not knowing," she said.

SPORTS MORE HIGH-PROFILE

Sports are a high-profile part of the school experience, namely during the high school years. But district athletic director George Moate said they only take up about $550,000 to $600,000 per year from the general district fund, or less than 1 percent of the overall budget.

Moate, a longtime football coach, said sports across the district eat about $1.1 million per year, total. Since only about half of that comes from the maintenance and operations budget, the rest comes from private pockets: fundraising and gifts, booster clubs, gate receipts, pay-to-play fees and tax credit donations (the tax-credits alone are worth about $382,000).

Pay-to-play fees come straight from the student, and those, Moate predicted, are likely to go up. They currently run $75 per student, but have been as much as $150 in the past. Last year, they raised $93,572.

"If it goes up, there will be more hard-luck cases," he said.

Pay-to-play fees are for sanctioned interscholastic sports and other competitive activities, like chess and speech and debate, and augment travel costs and officials — both expensive in rural northern Arizona — and keep game admissions low. In FUSD they don't necessarily cover uniforms or coach pay, though they potentially could, Moate said. They also don't cover field maintenance.

'CHRISTMAS MONEY'

Coaches are usually teachers who receive a stipend, and many volunteer. Moate was the head football coach at Coconino High School for 15 years. When he stepped down in 2004, he was getting $3,385 for his relatively marquee position that required year-round duties for the team, including off-season fundraising, attending league functions, and overseeing off-season player training and conditioning. He called that his "Christmas money."

Only about 50 students received partial or full sports scholarships this fall, and Moate said that's a subjective decision. He said coaches don't like to make those students feel like they stand out for not having much money.

Frosh sports, another feature of the override and one that had been off and on but restored in the mid-1990s, might not have the draw or expense of varsity sports— they only account for roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of the overall athletics budget, Moate said. But they develop depth for junior varsity and varsity squads and draw kids who want to experiment with sports, he said.

Hillary Davis can be reached at hdavis@azdailysun.com or 556-2261.

Override expenditures —Personnel

Program/Amount/Positions*

Class size reduction & honors/$1,747,546/38.0

Elem art/$481,581/8.5

Elem music/$691,085/12.5

Elem P.E./$579,359/10.5

Nurses/$736,594/15.8

Librarians/$895,672/15.5

High school drama/$76,604/1.7

Responsible Thinking discipline classrooms/$335,349/6.0

TOTAL/$5,697,361*/108.6

*Positions are FTEs. List above is partial . Does not include: ninth-grade sports, middle school activities, school supply budgets, unrestricted capital and pay-to-pay subsidies.

Source: FUSD