RC Schools committee recommending several budget cuts Monday
by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor
The euphoria of graduation and the excitement that comes with the last days of school will probably feel like a distance memory when the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education has to deal with several tough decisions at Monday evening?s meeting. Among the recommendations to be presented by the planning and finance committee are the elimination of the transportation/maintenance supervisor position, the layoff of a teacher and the implementation of a ?pay-to-play? program for student athletes.
When the budget process started, the list of expenditures on the district?s ?wish list? was $300,000 more than revenues. But, between meetings of the committee, school officials learned that the state has less revenue coming in and they probably won?t be able to give districts like Rogers City a $142 per student increase that the Senate had proposed. Superintendent Dan Byrne said they?ve had to drop that figure down to $100 per student.
?SO, THAT eliminated $25,000 in revenue that we didn?t have,? said Byrne. ?We weren?t starting with $300,000, it was now $325,000.? Byrne said the biggest hit has come from the loss of approximately 20 students.
?If you anticipate 20 students being gone, at $7,000 a head, you?re already looking at a loss of $140,000,? he said. ?Then you add in that the fixed costs of salaries, benefits and increased utility costs, right off the bat you?re way behind.?
The committee?s recommendation is to reduce expenditures to around $70,000 and borrow the rest from the fund balance. Here?s the entire list of recommended personnel cuts: transportation/maintenance supervisor, one general education aide, one special education aide, elimination of the Title One student support position, reduction in the technology coordinator position and a teacher layoff.
?Without the aids, it becomes more of a burden for the teachers,? said Byrne. ?The transportation maintenance supervisor position would have to be delegated. Those are departments that (secondary principal) Jamie (Hu
ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION will be the establishment of a graduated ?pay-to-play? scale for student-athletes. After the initial fee is paid, the cost to participate will be a little less for each additional sport during the school year. ?The hope of that is to generate some revenue,? said Byrne. ?The general fund helps support athletics with money and we are reducing the amount that the general fund is going to supply to athletics.?
The budget decisions have been tougher this year with no teachers deciding to retire. Last year there were three and none of them were replaced.
?It is tough,? said Byrne. ?I?ve had to go face-to-face with all of these people to say either you are not going to have a job next year or your time is going to be significantly reduced. That is hard in any times, but to put it in these bad times we are having, it is real hard to do.? Monday?s budget hearing begins at 6:30 p.m.