Posen board forced to make $300,000 cut to school budget
It was with deep regret and after much discussion that the Posen Consolidated School Board agreed to cut programs and positions amounting to $300,000 in order to continue with a workable budget for 2004-2005. A room full of more than 25 teachers, community members and residents filled the Posen High School library and listened as superintendent Dennis Stratton laid out the cold hard facts. ?We addressed the issues at last week?s special meeting in order to make decisions tonight,? Stratton said as he went over the enrollment which has declined from 340 three years ago down to 277 students projected next year.
?We?ve made cuts and downsized in order to still offer a quality program for the students?but now we?re to the point where we can no longer use the fund equity balance to make ends meet?it can no longer sustain us.? Stratton explained that expenses have gone up and funding has gone down along with the enrollment numbers. ?Now we have to make cuts that will affect the students and people. There is nothing left to do. We must cut $300,000 from the budget,? Stratton said. Because 90 percent of the budget is spent on personnel and benfits, the cuts were bound to come from position reductions.
BOARD PRESIDENT Ken Wozniak went over the list of options that were then made into motions and voted upon.
?A motion to reduce bus runs from five to four and eliminate one bus driver, thus saving $23,000, was approved unanimously.
?A motion to have athletes pay to play for sports was combined with a motion to pay for transportation for sports, to save $3,500, was approved unanimously.
?It was with deep regret a motion was made and approved to eliminate the band program. Patricia Soik voted no, and the rest of the board, yes. It is a $52,000 savings for the district.
?It also was with deep regret a motion was approved unanimously to eliminate the art program with a $52,000 savings for the district.
?It was unanimously approved by the board to post the now vacant high school secretary position as a 3/4 position, saving the district $19,000.
?Also eliminated unanimously was the librarian position, but it was expected that person would assume a fulltime teaching position because of seniority.
?Tabled was a motion to eliminate the position of superintendent and replace him with an interim person with a possible savings of $20,000. The reason given was Stratton?s contract would have to be paid off anyway, so the issue was tabled until a later date.
?A motion to eliminate two elementary positions, saving $100,000, was approved, with one nay vote by Wozniak.
?A second motion to eliminate one high school position was approved, saving $50,000, but with one nay vote by Ken Wozniak.
?A motion to eliminate track, golf, and cheerleading programs was unanimously approved, with the stipulation they could be brought back if funding could be found. Savings were estimated at $3,000 for track and $2,000 for golf.
?An issue regarding calendar adjustments that could result in a shorter school week with longer days, or other adjustments in order to save money, was tabled in order to spend more time looking into the possibilities.
Discussion ensued regarding charging a spectator fee for baseball and softball games, which looks like an eventual reality for next year. Self-sufficiency was the name of the game for other sports such as football, basketball and volleyball, which do charge for games. ?Breakfast and lunch programs are mandated programs