Meeting tonight to focus
on the defeated school district budget, possible cost-cutting
measures.
Monday, May 05, 2008 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER •
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | Tonight town council
and school board officials will meet to discuss the district's
defeated budget.
The proposed $59.6 million spending
plan would have raised $7 million through local taxes.
Its rejection by voters places
it in the hands of town council members, who can recommend cuts
to the spending plan.
Council President David DeGerolamo
said he expects the meeting will be an open dialogue between town
and school officials. He said he hopes to get a better understanding
of some of the changes the district is planning.
In order to bridge what was initially
a $10 million shortfall due to changes in state funding, district
officials have said they might eliminate as many as 61 jobs.
That number might have dropped
a bit due to retirements, but the district is still working to
pin down exactly how many reductions there will be.
"We believe that based on the dialogue
we had last year, one of the areas that needed some serious consideration
was administration," DeGerolamo said.
Last year, councilmen and then-Superintendent
Gordon Pethick sparred over whether the district was top heavy
in administration. DeGerolamo accused Pethick of lying to council
about a state report recommending the district reduce its number
of administrators.
Pethick left the district in January
under an early separation agreement.
This year, school officials are
planning to reduce the number of administrators by about seven.
School board President Paul Rummerfield
has said a new administrative model has been considered for a
few years. That model will enhance accountability and efficiency
within the district, he said. District officials have also made
tough decisions and cuts across the board, he said.