Van Buren school board considers reducing staff due to budget cuts

KEOSAUQUA ? Budget finance and facility improvements topped the agenda during a Van Buren Community School District Board of Directors work session Feb. 1.

The board is considering $183,000 in budget cuts to offset decreased state aid due to a drop in enrollment. No action was taken, but the board?s consensus was to direct the administration to prepare a budget based on several recommendations, including a reduction of staff: a second-grade teacher at a savings of $47,153.

This would mean the class size in next year?s second grade could be 25 or 26. A paraprofessional would assist the teacher.

?It?s not an overly huge class size,? said board president Brian Starnes. ?The question we ask ourselves is if not this, where else can we cut this amount??

Board vice president Kara McEntee said, ?I know how chaotic it can be in the lower elementary grades, and you?re teetering on getting rather large.?

The board said it could revisit the issue if the class size ends up at 30. However, the district won?t know the final numbers until school starts, Starnes added.

?I don?t like any recommended reductions,? said superintendent Lisa Beames, ?but we also have a job to be fiscally responsible.?

Other recommendations for budget cuts included:

? Bus stop and bus stop paras at a savings of $25,000. Beames said the district would be identifying those areas in cities where the district can pick up students.

? One secretary in the superintendent?s office at a savings of $28,000. This may necessitate moving the office to the junior-senior high school.

? Reduction of a guidance counselor to a one-fourth-time guidance counselor, who is paid out of two funds, at a savings of $15,923.

? Having a ?4/8? custodian, at a savings of $12,000. This wouldn?t change what the district has now, but it would reduce what the district started the school year with, Beames said.

? Complete disposal of the former Stockport school building and property at $10,000.

? Having a half-time high school study hall monitor, a savings of$9,000.

? The difference between what retiring science teacher Jeff Roe earns and what the replacement will earn, a savings of $20,000.

The board considered, but didn?t include in the mix, a recommendation to cut one section of drivers? education at a savings of $6,500 and MOC contract conversion at a savings of $6,791.

The board discussed a 3 percent non-certified staff raise.

The rest of the shortfall, Beames said, would be absorbed from the district?s cash reserve.

The board also met with maintenance director Bruce Franklin to discuss facility needs.

Franklin cited several advantages of switching from steam to hot-water heating. He also suggested sealing up the old coal chute in the Keosauqua boiler room, as there is more water coming in now.

According to Beames, roofs on the original Keosauqua building and over the boiler room are at or nearing the end of their life expectancy. Open stairways at Douds, cast-iron pipes at Keosauqua and electrical issues also were discussed.

Board members, individually, chose priorities.

Immediate needs were:

? new doors

? sidewalks at Douds

? bleachers at Douds

? parking lot at Keosauqua

? replacing roof on original Keosauqua building

? fence at Douds

? steps at Keosauqua

? heating at Douds

? back flow at the water main in Keosauqua

Intermediate needs in three or four years:

? roof at Keosauqua

? boiler room (old coal chute needs sealed up)

? Douds boiler

Board member Sheila Parsons said she would like to get cost estimates on all proposed improvements at Douds.

No action was taken. The board will meet Monday to take any action on the discussion at the work session.

Prior to the work session, the board met in regular session.

The board heard update on a planned trip to Washington, D.C. The activity, said Beames, is independent of a school function and the teacher would be granted an unpaid leave. However, students would be granted excused absences.

Board member Terry Jester was concerned the trip, which costs $1,491, is the same year as two other major student trips.

The board approved staff to conduct further research.