Transportation costs and class sizes could be under the knife in Jordan’s schools.
The Jordan School Board will vote April 28 to approve a round of cuts proposed by the district’s cost-saving committee, with a few minor alterations.
The district’s commitment to free all-day kindergarten is safe from the budget chopping block. But Jordan High School seniors might have to find their own transportation to the Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative, and elementary school class sizes could be going up.
One of the larger dollar amounts among the proposed cuts would be the $18,000 spent on busing seniors to Carver-Scott. The suggestion of eliminating this cost is drew some concerns.
“I cannot see how we can offer a class that’s 10 miles away and then tell the students to find a way to get there,” Board Member Joe Benko said.
The district’s liability is a concern, Benko said, should any of students get injured or worse while driving between Jordan and the cooperative.
Benko said he wouldn’t vote for the proposed cut without some assurance from an attorney that the district would not be liable.
High school Principal Mark Ruggeberg said the number of students enrolled in vocational programs has dropped from an average of 53 just a few years ago to 24 next year.
Allowing students to drive themselves to the programs could allow more students to enroll by giving them more scheduling flexibility, Ruggeberg said. He added that he would work with the students to make sure that every student enrolled in a vocational program had a ride.
“I know my seniors well enough to take care of that,” he said.
The district would also require permission from parents to send their students in the cars of other students.
Superintendent Larry Kauzlarich said the board would have to support a zero-tolerance policy against unsafe driving. If a student is caught driving wildly, he or she should be removed from the program immediately, he said.
“I don’t see how you can have any latitude on that,” he said.
Board Member Tammy Will said her son, a senior, would have loved the option to drive this year, because it would have given him more scheduling flexibility for other school classes.
CLASS SIZES
The cuts also include reducing the elementary school staff by one teacher, raising some class sizes.
With the impending retirement of first-grade teacher Barb McNamara, the school could choose not to fill an open position, essentially cutting a staff member.
Elementary Principal Stacy DeCorsey said she didn’t know whether the position would stay in first grade or whether or not the cut position would be in first grade.
BRIGHTER PICTURE
The district’s financial situation could be better than expected after this school year, Kauzlarich said. But that only means the district would be overspending its revenue by between $100,000 and $250,000 rather than overspending by as much as $400,000 as originally expected.
The district still needs to do something to stop the overspending, Kauzlarich said. But the board doesn’t have to make the drastic budget cuts it had expected.
Kauzlarich recommended a cut of about $200,000 this year.
“I think we can be comfortable with that,” he said.
A-B-C CUTS
The cost-saving committee divided its proposed cuts into groups. A cuts were those that the committee thought the board should consider this year, B cuts were those that the board should consider for next year, C cuts were those that the board should consider long-term, and D cuts were those that the board should never consider.
The A cuts that the board will consider include:
- cutting a staff position in the elementary school;
- cutting the elementary media aide position;
- cutting the Prairie Fire Theater program;
- cutting two general paraprofessional positions in the middle school;
- cutting busing for the vocational program;
- cutting some extra duty positions;
- cutting some weight room supervision;
- cutting a board member pay increase;
- cutting the district’s supply budget in half;
- asking the dean of students to teach an additional class;
- finding volunteers to run athletic clocks and books;
- and turning down the thermostat during the winter and turning it up in the summer.
Buresh said the board will consider the A cuts first, but that there is also a distinct possibility that the district will face cuts at the B-level soon. Those cuts include:
- the Journalist publication;
- cutting busing of children less than 1 mile from the elementary school;
- cutting the district gifted and talented program;
- cutting some assistant coaching positions and the cheerleading program;
- and cutting additional staff positions and raising class sizes.