Schools

Personnel To Top S. Huntington Budget Workshop

First of two sessions to cover programs and staff.

The kicks off a two-part discussion of personnel and programs Wednesday night, under pressure to meet new state limits on taxes.

Dr. Thomas Shea, the district superintendent who is retiring this year, has been leading workshops each week, examining options for cuts and explaining costs. Previous sessions have covered transportation, administrative costs and other topics.

The workshops lead up to a board vote on the budget on April 4, which then presents it to the voters on May 15.

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Contracts, especially those involving academic personnel, are expected to be a major part of the budget discussion going forward.

Much of the new pressure to hold down or reduce costs is driven by a state cap on the tax levy, the amount of funding a school district needs to raise to balance the budget.

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A 60 percent vote is needed to approve a budget that exceeds the cap, while a 50 percent approval is needed to simply pass the budget.

The second part of the discussion is scheduled for March 28, the final workshop before the budget adoption process.

Some of the cuts on the table are:

Reductions Under Consideration

Half-day kindergarten 593,654 Transportation Option A 448,239 Transportation Option B 342,012 Total Reductions, with Option A 5,041,921 Total Reductions, with Option B 4,935,694

Shea reported givebacks or hard wage freezes had been accepted by several bargaining units. Omitted from the list is a security shift that took a pay cut last year. Absent from his giveback list were teachers and nurses.

The public session of the board convenes at 7:30 p.m. at Whitman High School.

Figures provided by the South Huntington school district.


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