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District cuts
Published 3/4/2010 in Commentary
Entire community faces sacrifices
For any business or organization, cutting staff should be a last resort.
Garden City USD 457 administrators, teachers and community members who gathered this week to address the district's 2010-11 budget had no choice but to discuss that possibility and others at a time cuts in state aid could force USD 457 to shave $2 million to $6 million from its budget.
Proposals from the 15 programs in the district would cut about $1.1 million, including more than 20 positions district-wide.
The goal is to eliminate positions through attrition rather than layoffs. Last year, the program budgeting process eliminated 16.5 positions through attrition.
But while choosing not to replace staff members may be less painful than actual layoffs, it still doesn't ease the blow in the classroom.
An always challenging situation for the local district only would be more difficult with fewer educators — especially with a move to a new high school that looks to offer smaller class sizes.
The anticipated cuts in aid led USD 457 and other districts in the Schools for Fair Funding coalition to again sue the state. Lawmakers are scrambling to find new revenue to address a state budget shortfall and avoid even deeper cuts in education funding and social services.
Meanwhile, as local officials seek a workable mix of cuts and income-generating moves, the bleak budget picture likely means sacrifices for many. Until things improve everything should be fair game — from cutting dollars spent on sports and other extracurricular activities to reducing staff salaries.
That also includes the possibility of a mill levy increase, a prospect that will leave many to argue that the school district should learn to live within its means.
And it should, but not at a cost to student achievement. And every lost job — whether in schools or manufacturing plants — takes a toll on the local economy.
Unless reductions in state aid somehow are avoided thanks to newfound revenue or the state realizing public schools can't take more cuts, everyone in the district — employees and patrons — should expect some sacrifice to keep teachers on board and maintain the quality of education the community needs.
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