Marshall school official proposes cuts
By Jodelle GreinerMARSHALL - The Marshall School Board looked at proposed budget cuts during the regular board meeting on Monday and wanted more options.
Superintendent Klint Willert presented the board with $574,372 in proposed cuts that he and his administrative staff had tabulated. The goal was $600,000 in cuts, and the board members asked Willert and his staff to come up with additional proposals so they would have some options to present to the public so they could better meet their goal.
Some of the programs they discussed eliminating:
Cheerleading program
Close the swimming pool and use the pool at Southwest Minnesota State University. "This would minimize the number of pools we're maintaining in this community," said Bruce Lamprecht, director of business services. He added it was suggested the pool be filled in and the gymnastics equipment be set up permanently in that space. It would save time the custodians use to set up and take down the equipment.
Orchestra. The program would be offered through Marshall Community Services.
Middle school activities. The activities would be offered through Community Services);
French at the high school.
Positions proposed to be cut or reduced:
One paraprofessional in each building.
One physical education teacher.
One nursing position. Lamprecht explained that they may decide to reduce hours to equal that one position.
One media (library) position. A paraprofessional could be re-directed to fill in at the library, Willert said.
One day care teacher. Replace with a paraprofessional.
One high school language arts person.
One MECLA teacher/tech.
Robert Walker is now a .5 position as the assistant elementary principal, a .25 position as the Title 1 coordinator and a .25 position as the Project Success coordinator. It is proposed he retain his duties as assistant elementary principal, and the duties as Title 1 coordinator be absorbed into that position, and the Project Success coordinator duties be rolled over to Jeremy Williams, assistant principal at MECLA. This will leave Walker in a half-time position as assistant elementary principal. "Mr. Walker could opt to return to the chemistry classroom and be a half-time administrator," Willert said.
Willert also presented the board with proposed new revenues.
"These are things in previous years that may have been reimbursable, but may no longer be reimbursable through federal and state special education programs," Willert said.
This list includes:
Increase activity fees. "We'd still be competitive with schools our size," he said.
PSEO. Keep students in the building so Marshall Public School gets the funding, rather than let them go to SMSU, Willert reasoned.
Increase rental fees by 10 percent.
Charge for transcripts. A fee of $10 would be charged for students who had been out of high school for a while. The projected income is $500.
Reinstitute student parking at $20/vehicle. It could generate $10,000.
The total of these proposed revenue increases is $44,000.
The board is looking for input from the community to see what the public can live with losing and what programs they definitely want to keep.
The board, as a consensus, wanted more options, for themselves and the public, to choose from.
"The administrative team met for five hours poring over a list," Willert said. "If we need to go back and revisit that list, I'd like to hear that from the board. If the board wants to have a series of choices: package A or package B. If the board would wish to do that, we can do that."
Board Chairman Jeff Chapman wanted to know whether instead of raising fees, should a program be eliminated?
Chapman asked about double testing with the NWEA assessment, which is given up to three times throughout the year, and the MCA2, which is given at the end of the year.
Willert explained the tests measure different things in the students' progress.
"I'd strongly recommend against (dropping one)," Willert said.
Board member Mike Booke was concerned that the district has improved some programs, gotten good feedback on that progress, and is now talking about cutting those programs.
"Maybe we need to look at other things," Booke said.
Willert and his team will meet again prior to March 16 to come up with additional recommendations for the board.
That meeting date will be determined later.
The board plans to make its final decisions at the March 30 meeting.
"What are we willing to give up? Somewhere, something has to give," Willert said. "It impacts the staff, the children and the community."
To view the entire proposal, visit www.swmn.org and click on the superintendent's link.
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Informed
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03-03-09 11:50 PM
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Saw the presentation online. Make sense to make the admin cuts - good to see in fact. I don't think that teacher cuts can be made without some cuts in administrators. $600000 is alot of cutting to do and what happens will be a tough thing for the community. But, it looks like that's what fewer students do.
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PersonalChoice
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03-03-09 8:00 PM
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cont. not, they actually did go to numerous years of schooling just like a hospital nurse and they know waht they're talking about. They usually can tell if it's just a tummy ache or strep or an ear infection, which can save you tons of dollars when you go to the E.R. instead. I do agree with cutting one library staff and the daycare teacher. First of all I didnt even know we had a daycare teacher and if it's for MECLA then maybe the kids should be taking classes online so they can take care of their own kids if they're the ones whoe think they're responsible enough to have a child while still in high school? just a few thoughts being an actual student at MHS all my high school years.
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PersonalChoice
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03-03-09 7:57 PM
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cont. thing and maybe we can try and save money by not getting new uniforms, sweats, etc every year or two until we can raise money again. Maybe they can shorten practice times lower energy costs, etc...I don't know?.... 3)Job Cuts: First I think people need to be realizing what they'd be cutting in the bigger picture before they officially make the cuts and make the comments they do. The paraprofessionals do amazing jobs at helping students to try and have an opportunity to learn when they don't have fully functional brains, etc. Phys. ed getting cut all together, or just a teacher...either way is riculous. Physical education could maybe be combined instead with health or something instead of cutting alltogether. With the unhealthy school food system, and the way people eat these days, cutting phys ed would be a ridiculous idea. The nursing situation is also not right if you ask me. School nurses save you all money in the long run when your student doesnt feel good. Believe it or
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PersonalChoice
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03-03-09 7:52 PM
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cont. loans, grants, and scholorships are for. I feel that the CIS programs that have been brought over to the high school was a GREAT decision and if we're getting college credits for those classes anyway, it should help with cutting PSEO. 2)Activities. As a student at MHS for my whole life, I feel that without activities, we wouldn't have the great reputation we have now. I understand that activities that have suffered with students going out for them for more than 3 years, such as cheerleading, tennis, gymnastics, etc, then they have an option to be cut from the budget, and to just have their own booster club pay for them if they want to stick around. Comments such as the dance team one that was made by an adult was uncalled for and inmatture. It was either made by a parent who isn't involved in any sport, or they just don't understand success and the world of trying to teach kids great things by being involved in activities. Activities through the high school are such a great
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PersonalChoice
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03-03-09 7:46 PM
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From a senior student's perspective, I have quite a few thoughts on the budget cuts: 1)Educational Cuts: Foreign language cut: As a student, I can see that the French program is not as popular as Spanish, but that would leave students with a choice of learning Spanish or nothing. I don't think cutting the French program would do much in the overall picture. School is all about education, before cutting educational opportunities, less-popular activities and organizations should be cut. The music program through MHS is HUGE, our marching band has had so much success through the past years, the show choir has been completely successful also without our music program, many students would suffer and be deeply hurt by the decision. As a student, I don't believe cutting any part of the mustic program would be a good idea. In regards to PSEO, I've never done PSEO and have been fine. I realize it's a great opportunity for students who can't afford a great college education, but that's what
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MyView
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03-03-09 7:25 PM
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How about cutting that fancy phone system that calls parents and tells them about school closeings and such, we did not need this in the first place, calling the radio station with announcements was free, and still is!!! If you people would quit waisting the tax payers money the budget would not be as big of a problem.
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Mustangs09
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03-03-09 5:22 PM
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There ya go...keep the kids at MHS instead of letting them start their college education for free at SMSU and saving students and their families THOUSANDS of dollars. Way to keep the students best interests at heart!
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rangeral
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03-03-09 5:22 PM
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Businesses also run on contracts - with customers, suppliers, employees, etc. When tough times hit, these contracts are renegotiated. With employees by far the largest single cost for schools, of course the contracts should be opened up and costs reduced. The teachers union should be volunteering to reopen their contracts.
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Informed
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03-03-09 4:47 PM
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Contracts under Minnesota law need to be negotiated. Schools are not like businesses and can make an arbitrary decision to freeze everything and impose that on people. I am sure the district has had to make a plan for salaries and benefits. Maybe the state law needs to be changed!
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4kidsmom
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03-03-09 9:57 AM
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Most of these sound possible. I just want to know why are we paying a daycare teacher? Shouldn't a daycare be self sufficient? If a student needs daycare wouldn't they be eligible for county assistance?
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InMyOpinion
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03-03-09 9:34 AM
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Just some of my thoughts...1) Close the swimming pool, fill it in, and use SMSU's pool--fill it in will cost money, then in a few years the school will want the pool back (with more construction costs), and is SMSU's pool use free? 2) Cut a foreign language--just what we need, our students to have less educational opportunities and learning a foreign language that helps students learn English better. 3) Cut a physical education teacher--look around, should we be cutting something that we all need for life-long health and fitness? 4) Charge $10 for transcripts--$500 of new revenue is a only .08% of the $600,000 of budget cuts needed. What's the impact if all staff salaries were froze for the year (this isn't unreasonable given our horrific economy)? What's the monetary impact if, say, one in four sports games/events were canceled (idling buses, lowering heating costs on off evenings, saving electricity with reduced lighting on off evenings, etc)? Time to think outside the box.
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TommyA
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03-03-09 8:40 AM
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Seems like pretty light cutbacks - MHS is simply used to getting everything it needs/wants. How many indoor pools can one town need? I see that the Dance Team remained, what a joke - add that one to the list and bring french back. Hmmm, Foreign language in a global society or encourage girls to wear skirts up to their eyeballs with caked on make-up - tough decision.
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rangeral
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03-02-09 11:31 PM
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Not included in the recommendations is the freezing of teacher and admin salaries for two years - what impact would that have on the budget?
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