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February 5, 2010

Dalton school officials expecting job cuts

By Rachel Brown

CRANDALL — Preserving employment will still be a “guiding principle” as Dalton Public Schools officials work to cut $6 million from their operating budget over the next two years, but it’s possible the district will have to cut $2 million worth of jobs.

That’s according to Superintendent Jim Hawkins who unveiled a tentative two-year budget reduction plan at a work session in Crandall Friday afternoon. He said he plans to discuss the possibility of staff reductions with employees Monday morning. No employees lost their job in the past year as a result of budget cuts, officials said, but each of the nearly 1,000 employees took a pay cut. Higher-paid employees took higher cuts.

“This is going to get deep, and it’s going to get very difficult,” Hawkins said. “... We cannot avoid getting into positions probably much longer.”

Board member Danny Crutchfield said he believes employees have been so helpful and “energized” about helping the district reduce costs over the last year partly because they were invited to be part of the process and were told the effort was part of preserving their employment. Hawkins, who was hired in December 2008, has led the district through $5 million in budget reductions so far with the guiding principles being to minimize classroom impact, preserve employment and maintain $5 million in operating cash.

“I’m not sure we can say (preserving employment) is a guiding principle right now if we’re going to have to eliminate people,” Crutchfield said. “... So should that guiding principle be ‘try to preserve employment?’”

“Probably,” Hawkins replied, then added, “When we say those are guiding principles, isn’t that a qualifier?”

Officials did not identify a specific number of job cuts that might come. Finance director Carol Shanahan said information about anticipated revenue reductions and additional expenses are merely best-guess projections.

Hawkins said he still intends to try to avoid staff reductions where possible but with more than 80 percent of the district’s $60 million budget going toward salaries and benefits, it will be difficult to avoid cutting jobs much longer.

The budget reductions — and possibly staff reductions — would come in the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years. The school system’s fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30. The operating cash — money left at the end of the fiscal year — covers expenses until more revenue begins arriving in December or January.

If school officials do nothing, there will be $730,000 left at the end of the 2011 fiscal year and a $7.5 million deficit by June 2012, Shanahan projects. She said the figures are based on expectations of more state budget cuts, loss of federal stimulus funding, an expected decrease in local property taxes and rising costs related to salaries and other expenses.

Hawkins said he has not identified specific cuts, but he expects the district will probably cut $4 million in 2011 and another $2 million in 2012. He said $2 million would likely come out of the district’s various program budgets, $2 million from existing employees’ salaries and benefits and $2 million in positions.

Hawkins also identified $723,000 in additional cuts he’ll ask board members to approve at their Monday meeting at 100 S. Hamilton St. The work session begins at 5:30 p.m., and the regular meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. The cuts include $650,000 from eliminating three teacher work days. The rest of the cuts come from leaving a central office vacancy unfilled, reducing the rate of substitute pay and other minor changes like allowing water fountains to sit at room temperature instead of refrigerated. The cuts will allow the school system to end the current fiscal year with $7.2 million in the bank, Shanahan projects.

Teachers and their support staff will not be paid for a day in January in which school was out because of ice and will also will not be paid on April 1 and a training day in early June. April 1 will be a day off for students.

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