Budget cuts on table for USD 489
Published on -12/6/2009, 8:24 PM
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By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Hays USD 489 has been working on measures to cover the latest budget cut by the Kansas Legislature.
Those will be among items discussed at Monday's regular meeting of the Board of Education, set for 7 p.m. in the Toepfer Board Room of the Rockwell Administration Center, 323 W. 12th.
The district's total loss since July 1 is $765,000, and $500,000 of that can be recouped from enrollment growth this year.
The board also will talk about a list of possible general fund reductions for fiscal year 2111 that has been drawn up. That list of about 50 items range from eliminating hepatitis B and TB shots for staff, to reducing or eliminating programs, to closing attendance centers.
Kaufman cautioned the items "are not prioritized, not in any certain order."
"That is a budget construction device, and we don't have to do anything with those right now," Kaufman said.
"We can handle what we've got right now, and we don't expect to have to do any more (cuts) this year," he added.
"In the future, if we need to, then we'll look at everything again," Kaufman said. "We don't want those things to cause any unrest because
Administrators have been busy looking for ways to come up with the additional $264,000 loss expected by the latest round of cuts earlier this month.
* A total of $82,400 had been built into the budget by increasing the textbook fee from $60 to $100 at enrollment time.
* Energy savings of $60,000 by shutting off the heat in the hallways.
* Not filling three classified staff vacancies that are currently open -- for a custodian and two secretaries -- for a savings of $37,400.
* Freeze supply spending for a savings of $84,000. Exceptions are the Head Start and special education programs and building line items of student fees.
Other items of new business Monday will be:
Schools for Fair Funding membership; enrollment report; dual-sports policy for the district; special education policies, practices and procedures; long-run copier bids; Internet report; and reviewing of other policies.
