The Franklin County School Board last night approved a tentative budget and millage for the upcoming school year – but now the real work begins.
The school board approved a millage rate of just over 5 mills – a slight drop from the year before.
That millage should bring in about 9.8 million dollars in local tax money, a drop of about 12 percent from the 2010-2011 school year.
The school system is facing a budget shortfall of nearly 1.6 million dollars next year and the board had considered implementing a shorter school year or a 4 day work week to help balance the budget – but those plans have since been rejected.
Now it looks like the school district will have to make up the shortfall with cuts in salaries and benefits for school workers as well as any other cost-cutting measures they can think of.
The district is looking at a number of proposals to cut costs including no step increase for teachers next year, a three percent reduction in retirement, a 2 percent salary cut for all employees, and 6 days of furlough.
The board is also looking at eliminating dental coverage completely and reducing the amount the district pays for employee health insurance by 50 dollars per worker per month.
But as local teacher Denise Roux told the board last night – those cuts still have to be negotiated with the teachers’ union and those talks haven’t even officially begun yet.
The board will begin those negotiations on august the 16th.
http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments
No comments:
Post a Comment