Onaway school board makes more tough budget decisions
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
Tuesday the Onaway Area Community Schools board of education met and made more tough decisions as they try to reduce the budget deficit for next year. ?This is basically a way of getting as low as we can go deficit-wise for next year. The proposals would be to accept Margie Berry?s retirement, lay off three aides, not replace the social worker positions that were vacated this year, no longer allow any NovaNET overages and lay off one custodian,? said superintendent Rod Fullerton.
Fullerton explained that those proposed cuts along with the existing three teacher layoffs would be $457,600 in cuts that would take the deficit to $277,400. With that deficit the school would have a little more than 10 percent left in the fund balance at the end of 2011-2012.
NovaNET overages basically mean teacher pay. Currently teachers are working through their prep periods to cover the lab. By law the lab has to be covered by a certified teacher. Next year the librarian, who is also a certified teacher, will cover the lab, basically meaning the school will not have a full time librarian.
Board member Terry Materna raised concern over laying of a custodian, wondering if the buildings would not be taken care of properly. ?That is a really big concern of mine too. They are running traditionally about two or three short right now and the school is bigger than it used to be,? said board member Mike Hart.
?I am trying to keep stuff out of classrooms. I talked Don (Comfort, maintenance manager) about several options. We could clean classrooms every other day; we could split one of the day shifts. It is not an ideal situation,? said Fullerton. Hart and Materna continued to express their concern over the cleanliness of the building with one less custodian. Hart spoke specifically about the elementary wing with the sand in the fall and spring from the playgrounds, and his concern that the tile will be destroyed.
?I can appreciate the cleaning and what not, but I also appreciate Rod?s desire to keep education as high as possible. Some times things don?t go quite the way we want them to,? said board member Sharon Lyon. Materna then raised another concern, ?I want to see people come into the school and appreciate what we have; a clean school, not a messy school,? said Materna.
AFTER MUCH discussion on laying of a custodian and keeping the school clean, board member Lee Ann Neelis raised a question that moved the discussion, ?What about missing three aides?? asked Neelis. Lyon then reminded the board that with Berry?s retirement it was really losing four aides. Lyon then asked elementary principal Mindy Horn if it was going to be possible.
?We think with the IEP?s (Individual Education Programs) we have now we will be able to cover them but it is going to be tight. We will be able to cover the one-on-ones and that is about it. We are not aware of any coming in. I have three schedules laid out, one with all of these cuts, one with one aide recalled and one if all are recalled,? said Horn. With three teacher layoffs, four aides gone, and a custodian laid off the school would have eight less bodies in the building next year.
Hart?s big concern over the custodian issue was having the same number on the day shift as the night shift, as he felt the majority of the work is done on the night shift and with three wings it made sense to have three night custodians. He then asked if it made sense to be paying Don Comfort to be a manager, questioning if they needed a manager. The board informed Hart that they looked into what the savings would be if they eliminated the manager?s position a year ago and it turned out not to be much of a savings, as Comfort also does custodial duties.
?We need to think more about the people with the kids. I agree that we cannot clean this school every other day. We cannot go clean classrooms every other day. I would be the first to say that, especially in the elementary with colds, flu, lice, water from snow boots, it will destroy our school. Those aides are huge though,? said Neelis.
?My biggest concern is representing the millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars that have been put into this school. I just feel like I would be derelict to vote for something that is going to risk that. I just can?t see risking the actual physical structure of the school. I know the children are of utmost importance but physically we have to think about this building. We have to make sure this building is properly maintained,? said Hart.
THE DISCUSSION then moved into a discussion on health care and the possibility of reducing the price of the premiums. Fullerton has been researching ways to save on health care costs but has not gotten concrete data back to present to the board. ?Something has to change. These people here are my friends. I feel bad about sitting on this board saying these thing out loud but if we don?t do something we?re not going to be here. I would rather give them a job and cut them (by having them contribute to health insurance), at least then they have a choice, work here or try to find another job. We?ve got to do something, it breaks my heart to say that but I am a mother of four kids, I pay for it (health insurance) every month. We have got to do something, if we don?t we are all going to be gone. I hate to say it. We have got to start thinking bigger than sweeping the floors,? said Neelis.
The board agreed that the days of everything being covered by insurance and an individual?s employer are gone, that just doesn?t exist anymore. Fullerton ensured the board that he would keep looking at ways the school could save money on health care costs and report back to them when he had numbers to compare.
HORN THEN reminded the board that the aides aren?t just tutors for kids. ?They are personal care providers. Without them we would face major dollars in lawsuits. If we aren?t providing the personal care students need one of those lawsuits would wipe out any savings we found,? said Horn.
WHEN DISCUSSION seemed to have come to the close Lyon asked the board for a motion on the proposal. Dan Heythaler moved the approval of the proposal which would layoff paraprofessionals Tonya Corey, Sharon Winfield and Jean Brewbaker as well as custodian Greg Veihl. Neelis seconded the motion. A roll call vote had Neelis, Lyon and Heythaler voting yes while Hart and Materna voted no, as the proposal passed 3-2.