The Columbus Municipal School District will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today to discuss budget planning priorities for the 2012-2013 school year.
The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Brandon Central Services Center at 2630 McArthur Drive.
Saturday morning, members of the budget team — Interim Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell, Deputy Superintendent Craig Shannon, Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Hughes, personnel coordinator Myra Gillis and Assistant Superintendent for Federal Programs Anthony Brown — met to give the board of trustees and city officials an update on the district’s financial health.
Next year’s budget is still a work in progress, and the board won’t receive a first draft until March, but drastic cuts are needed to bring expenses in line with anticipated revenue, Liddell said.
Over the past few months, the budget team has met regularly to hammer out the specifics of the plan, attempting to find $4.4 million in cost savings.
A number of solutions are being considered, including reducing personnel, making cuts in athletics and supplemental salaries, outsourcing support services and increasing pupil-teacher ratios to the state maximum of 27:1 per class for K-six and 150:1 for the total students per teacher in grades seven-12.
Approximately 76 percent of the district’s budget goes toward salaries for its 606 employees.
“We’ve had very poignant conversations with administrators because this is a team effort,” Liddell said Saturday.
Dwindling revenues from local ad valorem taxes and federal and state funding are making the budget particularly tight, Board President Glenn Lautzenhiser said.
For the past nine of 10 years, the district has declared a shortfall.
The board passed a $43.5 million budget in August for the 2010-2011 school year, but anticipated expenses forced the board to request $13.39 million from the city. The City Council is legally obligated to provide those funds, which resulted in a 2.9-mill tax increase for city residents.
This year’s budget must be presented to the council by Aug. 15.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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