More than $4 million in cuts to the Clarkston Community Schools budget may not be enough.
The Board of Education called on Dr. Al Roberts, Superintendent, to come up with two additional plans for more cuts, one with $500,000 more, and the other with another $500,000, for $1 million total.
‘We need to move the bar up even more,? said Vice President Barry Bomier at the Feb. 26 board meeting. ‘It could get even more difficult if we don’t.?
If the state comes through with funding, the district could recall employees who were laid off and reinstate cancelled programs, Bomier said.
‘There’s much about this I don’t like ? it’s a difficult decision to make,? he said.
The board should be cautious not to cut essential programs too deeply, said Trustee Joan Patterson.
‘It would kill the programs,? said Patterson.
Math specialists who are helping to update the program are at risk of being cut, she said.
‘My concern is that we’d be pulling them out at an early stage before teachers have all the support they need for the program,? she said.
The board voted unanimously to table the current budget recommendations, which were introduced Jan. 22. The $4.2 million in cuts include staffing reductions of about $1.4 million, including nine classroom teachers, eight special-education teachers and staff, and 13 support staff members.
Cuts would also be made to special education, technology, field-trip transportation, library books, cell phone service, office supplies, extracurriculars, communications, curriculum, administration, busing, and energy.
The biggest single cut, $900,000, would be in insurance costs. Because these and teacher lay-offs would be subject to union contract negotiations, they are considered ‘soft numbers,? said Trustee Karen Foyteck.
‘We don’t really know what they’ll be until the end of contract negotiations,? Foyteck said.
The administration will go ‘back to the drawing board? to find the cuts without eliminating programs, Roberts said.
Possible additional cuts could come from salaries, extracurriculars, class size, and supplies, he said.
?(But) we want to provide the system with a chance of success with what’s left,? he said. ‘If we cut a program to the point of ineffectiveness, why have it??
Roberts will provide information on additional cuts as soon as they are available, he said.
‘I hope we won’t have to implement them all,? said board President Stephen Hyer. ‘But we need to have the option.?
The board will discuss and could approve them at its next meeting, set for March 12 at 7 p.m. at the school Administration Building, 6389 Clarkston Road. For more information, call Clarkston schools at 248-623-5400.