Schools

Salisbury School Board To Consider More Staff Cuts, Eliminate Mid-day Kindergarten Buses

Salisbury school board has to cut another $100,000, will vote on proposed final budget at May 12 meeting.

The Salisbury Township School Board might have to cut more staff positions to save an additional $100,000 before it adopts the district's 2011-12 budget, Business Administrator Christine Stafford told the board Monday at its operations committee meeting.

Stafford said the changes will not be reflected in the proposed final budget the board adopts tonight, May 11, "but they will be changes that will happen before the June 15  final adoption."

 The staff cuts would be in addition to the eliminated positions that were announced last month that included four teaching positions; one temporary position; two long-term substitutes and the reduction of two full-time positions to part-time.   In addition, 2.5 resignations or retirement positions will not be replaced and there will be a hiring freeze for any new positions.

Find out what's happening in Salisburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We have been asked to try to look for about another $100,000 worth of cuts. Some of the items are personnel-related," Stafford said. "But we will get into them in executive session wed nite before we go through the budget."

In addition, the administration is proposing to eliminate mid-day kindergarten buses that would save $42,000, Stafford said.

Find out what's happening in Salisburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Of the 86 kindergarten students who ride the bus,  31 students at Harry S. Truman Elementary School and 10 at Western Salisbury Elementary School take the mid-day bus, according to Assistant Superintendent Louise Beauchemin. Of those students, about six might have difficulty finding alternative transportation, she said.

Superintendent Robert Gross said they might have to look at making some cuts in the curriculum budget, such as textbooks.

School board President Russell Giordano said, "When you get to the additional $100,000, I still have to live with a 4 percent undesignated fund balance. For me, that  does not feel good."

At the April 16 budget meeting, the board had directed the administration to look for additional cuts after it rejected the administration's recommended 4 percent tax increase.

"We will continue to make changes all the way through the June 15 adoption," Stafford said.

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Salisbury