By Brian Williams, Times of Northwest Indiana
brian.williams@nwi.com
CHESTERTON | Cuts to trim the Duneland School Corp. budget will start in the next few days and affect administrative staff first, but they will not eliminate programs.
That was the upshot of a special School Board meeting Tuesday in Chesterton to address reduced state revenues to the district's operating fund.
The district must cut about $1.3 million, or 5 percent, from the general fund of its 2010 budget as its part of the $300 million reduction to public education called for by Gov. Mitch Daniels last month, Superintendent Dirk Baer said.
The board authorized Baer on Tuesday to make reductions in administrative staffing if necessary.
Cuts likely would come in the form of furloughs, or unpaid days off, and would be decided in the next few days, Baer said after the meeting. Details on the extent of reductions or the savings they would achieve were not yet available, he said.
A comprehensive plan to achieve the $1.3 million cut would evolve over the next two months, and all options were on the table, Baer said.
A cut in pay for most staff would start with himself, Baer said.
Whole programs would not be eliminated, nor would jobs, he said. Instead, savings would be realized through reducing the size of programs and trimming hours and benefits.
The priority in deciding cuts would be maintaining the integrity of Duneland's strong programs, he said.
"It may hurt a little bit for everybody, but it doesn't eliminate anybody," Baer said.
The district would keep music, athletics, full-day kindergarten and current class sizes, but the number of teams, pool opening hours and summer school, for example, could be reduced, he said. Program fees also could increase.
Savings also would be achieved by attrition -- not hiring as positions became vacant or hiring younger, less expensive staff.