Planned cuts include loss of teachers

Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 15, 2000

After building-level meetings and a public forum brought ideas, and mounds of data were used to drive staffing decisions, the Austin Public School District Board of Education has come to crunch time.

Saturday, April 15, 2000

After building-level meetings and a public forum brought ideas, and mounds of data were used to drive staffing decisions, the Austin Public School District Board of Education has come to crunch time.

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Cuts in approximately $710,591 and 25 instructors were discussed and agreed to at the board’s last work session, but have not been officially approved.

An additional work session has been scheduled for April 18 at 3 p.m., at which time the board will consider budget items which are placed on the "Schedule C" list of accounts. Expenses such as coaching allowances and co-curricular stipends are paid from the expense schedule.

The goal of slicing $1 million from the budget was eased when some reinstated funding was promised, leaving the necessary reductions totaling about $865,000.

Superintendent Dr. James Hess told board members earlier last week that in the past, "We may have allowed some spending patterns to go on. He added that the business office has been reorganized and aligned to not overspend on the budget in the future.

But with the proposed cuts class sizes, especially but not exclusively at the high school level, can be expected to rise.

"We’re going to have big classes," high school principal Julia Espe said matter-of-factly. "We’ve already cut a number of classes due to low registration numbers. There are no easy answers; it’s not easy to cut anywhere."

The budget crunch will be helped slightly by the fact a number of teachers plan to leave the district after school is done. According to Julie Jensen, district human resources director, said 14 teachers will retire, resign or request a leave of absence. Of those, two positions will need to be replaced outright and two will be combined.

Discussion regarding cuts was mostly based on a consensus at lower grade levels, but discussion about high school cuts drew some debate.

At issue was a social studies teaching position, that if cut, would increase class sizes in the department. Proposals call for two positions to be cut.

"I can’t support cutting two social studies teachers," Larry Andersen said. "I could support one, but not two," noting the already large class sizes.

Amy Baskin favored the cuts, based on registration numbers that show over 30 students per class in the entry-level offerings of American History I and American History II.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Banfield Elementary School Principal Candance Raskin said things looked okay, at least in her situation.

"I’m feeling better than I did this morning," she said. "At the elementary level, we will be fine, but I’m worried about the high school. It will be hard to lose than many teachers."

In addition to the proposed Schedule C cuts, which will be considered at the Tuesday work session, other staffing reductions that will be considered by the board include:

– high potential coordinator

– director of educational services

– counselor at the high school

– administrative assistant

– assistant early childhood family education director

– secretary for the educational director

The Austin Board of Education has a regularly scheduled board meeting on April 19, at 7 p.m. at the Ellis Middle School. A public forum will start at 6:30 p.m. Official action may be taken at this meeting according to district officials, in order to beat the May 1 deadline for notifying teachers whose contracts will not be renewed.

 

 

What do you think?

What areas should the Austin School Board be looking at to make budget cuts? Is the board considering cutting a program or position that you disagree with? What do you think about the district’s deficit?

We’d like to publish your thoughts before the board meets Tuesday to decide on further cuts. E-mail your comments by tonight to newsroom@austindailyherald.com.