USD 235 adjusts to lower funding

The USD 235 Board of Education met Monday to discuss several issues, including budgeting for the 2010-11 school year. With the possibility of major cuts in state funding, the board discussed several possible cuts and adjustments the school district could make in the budget to prepare the district for less funding.

"We don't want to cut programs," USD 235 Superintendent Randy Rockhold said. "But we don't want to charge more for our programs either. We need to prepare ourselves for less funding."

District officials have already made major cuts -- including not replacing key positions after the resignations of various personnel. West Bourbon Elementary, for example, will function without a guidance counselor and one less secretary than before.

One board member, Eldon Luker, expressed concern over the lack of a guidance counselor at the grade school.

"Anymore, you don't know what the kid's home life is like," Luker said. "I've had people tell me, 'Make the cuts, but don't cut out the guidance counselor.'"

WBE Principal Tracy Smith also expressed his displeasure with the situation.

"We've made cuts, hoping that we could get a counselor for the grade school," Smith said.

Smith also told the board that he and other members of the WBE staff were using some of their time doing work that a counselor would normally do.

"I've been dealing with parents on some of these issues," he said.

The board plans to address the guidance counselor position at the next meeting.

One suggestion the board made to bring in more revenue is to begin charging a participation fee for students who want to participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports. The suggestion was discussed at length, but tabled until the next board meeting.

Rockhold voiced concern that many students may opt to not participate in activities because they wouldn't be able to afford the fees.

"I wouldn't want to get in the situation where students would simply choose to not participate in these programs because they couldn't pay the additional fees," Rockhold said.

Many board members also mentioned that for some, the costs of extracurricular activities were already adding up. Some of the costs mentioned included special shoes or clothing for the activity, the cost of gas to and from practices and events, and equipment.

Board member Doug Coyan also pointed out that while the fee may not be much for some, it could be an additional expense that some families may not be able to afford.

"For some, $25 isn't much to ask for, they can afford that," Coyan said. "But to some, that $25 may be harder for them to come up with."

Another proposed idea was to combine the boys and girls golf teams, with that decision also being pushed aside until the next meeting. The idea would save the district the cost of paying two coaches, one for the boys program and one for the girls program. There would also be less travel costs and less wages paid for substitutes during the year. Girls who wished to participate in golf would still be allowed to do so, but would practice and compete with the boys.

One possible disadvantage to the proposal -- most girls would not be able to play at the same level as the boys.

"How many of the girls will be able to make varsity golf?," Rockhold said. "You may have one or two that could compete at that level, but most of them wouldn't."

The proposal would mean that many of the girls wouldn't be able to medal at events or earn the privilege to compete at a State Tournament. Another disadvantage that was discussed was the added numbers of golfers could mean less individual attention and assistance for the golfer.

After an executive session to discuss personnel matters, the board announced and accepted the resignation of Ruby Gerant as English I and English II teacher at Uniontown High School. The members of the board expressed appreciation for Gerant and her many years of service to the district.

"We would really like to thank her for her service to the school," board member John Ericson said. "We really appreciate everything that she has done. She is a great teacher."

The board had previously discussed the possibility of eliminating two additional members of staff, but after the resignation of Gerant, it was determined that the need for eliminating two positions may be reduced to only one position. The Kansas Legislature changed the date in which a school district must inform a teacher that their contract would not be renewed from May 1 to May 21, giving the schools extra time to make those decisions.

The discussion of eliminating staff will also be held off until the May meeting.

"We really don't know how much we have to cut," Rockhold said. "We really need to find out what the funding from the state will be before we make these decisions."

Other items discussed at the meeting included:

* The repairs to the roof of WBE. The district is waiting on additional bids for the repairs and also on the insurance company to determine if insurance will cover the costs and if so, how much that coverage would be.

* A new career plan of study program which would provide an individualized plan of study for each student, beginning with their ninth grade year. The program would help each student select three possible career choices based on the results of a career pipeline test and suggest classes the student should take to pursue that career. The program would also make more than 2,000 new classes available to the students through an online program. The student would receive both high school and college credits for the classes.