Teachers and sports slashed in proposal

Four more teaching positions, all middle school sports and some high school sports will be eliminated under a proposal designed to overcome a $200,000 shortfall in next year's budget.

The cuts come on top of reductions already made this spring, which took another $200,000 bite out of a total deficit of nearly $400,000.

School Superintendent Steve Swisher presented his 2001 proposed budget to a somber school board budget committee at its meeting Monday, April 24.

Swisher, noting that no good choices exist, told the board "all we have left is the least bad of a group of poor choices."

The new teacher reductions, combined with the two positions cut in March, would mandate a significant increase in average class size. They would, Swisher asserted, raise the school district's student to teacher ratio from 25:1 to 27:1.

"Class size increases would be especially harmful to elementary school students; they need the most intensive support," he said.

Sports programs, under Swisher's proposal, would be devastated. All middle-school sports funding would be eliminated. The survival of the programs would depend completely upon parental and community user fees and support.

High school sports fared better. The so-called "big three," football, baseball, and basketball, along with volleyball and others, would continue. However, sports such as cross country, wrestling, and swimming would face loss of their funding.

The next school board budget meeting is scheduled for May 8, with final budget approval due by June 30.

Both the school board and the superintendent expressed hope that the community would voice their opinions at upcoming meetings.