LH needs to trim $431,000 from budget
?The Laurel Highlands School Board has just two more weeks to trim another $431,000 from the 2011-12 budget, or find additional revenues.
“The state could make it a whole lot easier if they tell us tomorrow they’re going to give us $500,000 or $600,000 more,” said Dr. Gary Brain, district superintendent.
The district lost $2.2 million in state subsidy in the proposed state budget over what it received for the 2010-11 school year. Jesse Wallace, who will be taking over as superintendent as of July 1, said the administration has been working hard to trim the deficit.
“We started out $2.3 million short. As of the last meeting it was $900,000. As of today it is $431,000 short and that’s including everything,” Wallace said.
The budget under discussion doesn’t fill some of the teacher vacancies resulting from retirements or resignations, does not order new elementary text books and limits the purchase of new high school text books and elementary work books to the bare minimum this year.
It also uses the district’s entire fund balance of $2.9 million. The board is also considering not calling in substitute custodians for absences of two days or less and possibly cutting two security positions.
Wallace said administrators have been calling all of the district’s vendors, trying to reduce expenses by asking for 10 percent cuts.
“Some other districts are considering a user fee for athletics and possible eliminating lower level sports,” Wallace said. “That would decimate our sports program to do that.”
Wallace said parents in the district could not afford additional fees for their children to play.
“We need to turn more to our booster clubs,” said board president Angelo Giacchetti.
Another proposal was to eliminate clubs for one year. School director James Tobal questioned that concept.
“That affects our Middle States accreditation,” Tobal said.
“I know we need to cut, but this is to the bone.”
Wallace said all options were presented to the board so members knew everything they had to work with.
“These cuts are not in the budget,” Brain said.
“Nor are we recommending these. We just wanted you to be aware,” Wallace said.
Melvyn Sepic, who won both the Democratic and Republican nominations for a two-year and four-year term on the school board, suggested the district consider an after school child-sitting program to generate income for the district.
Sepic said St. Mary’s School had such a program and generated $15,000 with a student body of less than 200 children.