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| School cuts not as deep as thought |
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| Education - School Board | |||
| Written by Kristen Waggener | |||
| Wednesday, 11 March 2009 09:00 | |||
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District patrons came out of Monday night’s Louisburg USD 416 Board of Education meeting with good news: anticipated budget cuts from the state are going to be less deep than originally thought, thus making the cuts Louisburg needs to make fewer as well. Superintendent Rick Doll told board members Gov. Kathleen Sebelius recommended a flat budget for the next two years, passing much of the money the state will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the stimulus bill, to the district level. Because of that, the recommended budget — which still has to be passed by both the Kansas House and Senate — keeps the budget at its current level, which is about $80,000 less than at the beginning of the school year. “It’s not good, but it’s a lot better than the 10 to 15 percent (cut) we were looking at a month ago,” Doll said. Doll told board members he thinks the district can get through the 2008-09 school year without dipping into the contingency fund by keeping a tight eye on spending, but several cuts will have to be made to the 2009-10 budget. Previously, board members instructed Doll to prepare a series of things that would equal an approximate $1 million budget cut, which came in a prioritized list of about 35 things the district could do to either raise revenue or save money. “We don’t know how deeply we will go down this list yet,” Doll said. Atop the list is using a portion of the contingency funds the district has and reducing the subsidy the district provides for students who live within 2.5 miles of their schools to ride the bus. At a cost of about $165 per student this year and an increase next year based on the contract the board recently approved with Durham School Services, the board is considering charging a fee for students who live within 2.5 miles to ride the bus. “We are literally transporting kids who live two blocks from school, and that’s not right,” Doll said. Board members expressed their preference of keeping the fee at or below about $100 with a family cap around the $150 mark. Other items discussed include implementing an activity fee for students who participate in sports and extracurricular activities, not providing holiday turkeys to staff members, eliminating the school resource officer position, charging a partial fee for all-day kindergarten and reducing security at athletic events. At the bottom of the list is eliminating some teacher aides and paras and reducing teachers. Also at Monday’s meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Louisburg High School Principal Sally Lundblad, who plans to retire at the end of this school year. Board members applauded Lundblad for her dedication to the school and hard work.
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