School budget hammer falls

After months of debate and discussion, Douglas County School District Superintendent Carol Lark has settled on a list of recommended budget cuts to be submitted to school board members 5 p.m. tonight at Douglas High School.

"It is my intention to recommend that the board approve the entire list at this meeting," Lark said. "They may choose to take something off and add something else."

The list includes more than 30 items totaling about $2.8 million worth of cuts for the 2009-10 school year.

The school district must finalize their budget by May, before knowing exactly how the state budget will be worked out in the Legislature.

"I do not recommend that it (the list) be prioritized simply because we are still dealing with the unknown," Lark said. "We will not know the true outcome until the legislators make their decisions."

Also unknown is the effect any federal stimulus money will have on the district.

"We only know what we read in the paper about the mitigation and stimulus money," Lark said. "If, and when, we have a real target, I will then bring the list back to the board with my prioritized recommendations."

Leading the list in value is a "holiday premium," a one-month period during which the district would not pay from its general fund to the employees' self-funded health insurance program. The measure would generate a one-time savings of $500,000, but would also apply to dependents of employees in the program.

At a previous meeting, Chief Financial Officer Holly Luna said extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

"You're not going to get me to say that it (the self-funded program) is healthy enough," she said. "But is this something you do in extraordinary times? Yes."

Although middle school sports have been removed from the list, athletics might still suffer some reductions. The elimination of transportation for nonleague games would create a one-time savings of $100,000.

The elimination of field trips would save $72,000.

Personnel in many departments would also be affected by the proposed cuts.

The custodial division looks to take the biggest hit with a reduction of five full-time equivalents worth $216,000.

A reduction in elementary school computer aides, two by attrition, would save $113,500.

The attrition of two gifted and talented teachers would save $76,000.

Although regular classroom teachers appear to be safe, substitute teachers would take a pay cut.

More than $70,000 would be saved if pay for substitute teachers was dropped from $104 a day to $94 a day and from $52 for a half day to $47 for a half day.