Schools

Impact of Budget Cuts on School Districts Still Uncertain

Both district leaders say its too soon to know exactly what the impact will be.

As anticipated, Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal called for massive cuts in state aid for schools, to the tune of $834 million over the next two years.

And while it doesn’t look pretty for districts across the state, no one seems to know exactly how ugly it could be either.

“Nothing has been passed, things can be amended, and changes can be made between the budget repair bill and the biennium budget,” Whitnall Superintendent Lowell Holtz said. “Yes, right now there are huge cuts on the table for school districts, and the proposal to pay for a portion of those cuts is to reduce the salary of employees to pay for a larger portion of health insurance and retirement benefits.”

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Added Greenfield Superintendent Conrad Farner, “Too much can change between now and what is actually passed so we are careful about running hypotheticals as we just do not have time to spare and there is little return on the investment.”

Holtz said he believed the cuts would be a hardship on all involved, including the custodial staff, the secretarial staff, teachers and administrators.

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“Whenever you have a loss of revenue you have two choices,” he said. “The first choice is to reduce costs by reducing staff and/or programs. The other choice is to increase revenue. Our district is trying very hard to keep the outstanding educational program options available for our students that the Whitnall community has come to expect. If we can accomplish our goals by increasing revenues, we will continue to be an outstanding educational option for our students and their families.”

Holtz said his district will continue to analyze the more than 1,300 pages of the budget proposal so that it can come up with a specific and direct game plan to address its educational and operational needs. In the meantime, he praised his staff for remaining professional during uncertain times.

“What I have been impressed with is the dedication from every employee in the district to keep the personal hardship and frustration out of the school day,” Holtz said. “My faculty and staff remain fully committed to serving the needs of the children in our district, and my respect for their commitment grows more and more every day.”


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