The Oxford School Board announced plans last Tuesday to reduce expenditures to help balance their 2006-07 budget.
Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro said when the board first looked at the 2006-07 budget earlier this year they were anticipating a $2 million shortfall due to various increases, but were happy to find they wouldn’t be as extreme as expected.
Retirement rates will only increase by 1.5 percent instead of the 2 percent anticipated.
‘That alone will save our district $100,000,? she said.
Health care will only increase 2 percent instead of 15, saving $520,000 for the district.
‘So you can see by two things happening it saves Oxford $620,000,? she told the board.
Also, the district’s foundation grant will be increased to $200 per student from $125, which creates revenue of $300,000.
All of these items save the district a total of $920,000.
Brennan-Kyro said the rates for electricity didn’t increase anymore and the amount of diesel fuel and gas for heating will be maintained at the same level as in past years.
But, Brennan-Kyro warned the board that this budget is based on the assumption there are no salary increases for any employees and no new hires.
‘Just that line is difficult because our district is growing,? she said.
Brennan-Kyro said Oxford is anticipating 82 new students for the 2006-07 school year.
Other concerns Brennan-Kyro stated was that this budget is only good for one year, and just because the health insurance increase is smaller this year doesn’t mean it won’t ‘spike to 15 or 17 percent? next year.
‘So, although this is very good news, you have to keep it in context that it’s very good news for one year only,? she told the board.
Although these items amounted to $920,000 in savings, the district still had to reduce expenditures by another $1,080,000 to balance the budget.
Reductions will include:
nSupplies for curriculum frameworks and K-12 process
n Supplies for K-12, transportation and the high school auditorium.
nConsolidate middle school cheerleading season from two to one
nOne-way bus transportation for most sports teams, except large ones like football.
nHigh school and middle school intramurals
nOvertime for operations and maintenance
nMid-day transportation for kindergarten to four days a week
nBus dispatcher hours
nCounseling at the middle school
nSocial worker hours
nElementary preparation minutes from 285 to 240 a week, which is average for the county
nEliminate teacher lunch program at the high school (Administration and security staff would supervise lunches instead of paying teachers)
The athletics department will also save the district money by increasing their one-time medical fee, now called an instructional fee, from $50 to $80 to play sports at the middle school level and from $130 to $150 at the high school level.
As anticipated, Brennan-Kyro said there will also unfortunatly be layoffs, reductions in employees? hours and involuntary transfers.
Two custodians, a paraprofessional, a receptionist at the central office and the career resource center coordinator at the high school will be laid off.
Twenty-eight paraprofessionals and 14 bus drivers will see reductions in their hours.
Nine professional staff members will be transferred into another position, for example, Ron Roop and Shanie Williams, physical education teachers at Oxford Elementary and Daniel Axford respectively, will be transferred into classroom positions.
With the $920,000 saved from adjustments and $1,080,000 reduced in expenditures, the total savings amounts to $2,003,000, leaving a $3,000 ‘fudge factor,? according to Brennan-Kyro.
But she cautions that although the district is at the $2 million mark on paper, the numbers can drop when reality sets in.
‘I’m very concerned that when we go through that process we’re going to find out that we haven’t met our $2 million mark,? she said. ‘So we’ll need to go back and look for further cuts.?
The board must approve a blanced budget for the 2006-07 school year by July 1.