CUTS: BUDGET AT SCHOOLS PERUSED

The first round in the Cape Girardeau public school's budget-cutting process is complete, but decisions on exactly where $1.4 million will be trimmed are still down the road.

Superintendent Neyland Clark said reports have been filed by five internal committees studying elementary, secondary, special education, extracurricular activities and support services.

Clark said while specific dollar figures and programs are named in each of the reports, the cuts are still in a very preliminary stage and likely will change before a reduction package is presented to the Board of Education in March.

The committee reports list possible cuts totalling over $1.6 million. The cuts are prioritized according to the committees and include rationale and adverse impacts.

The secondary reduction report totals $586,004; the elementary reduction report totals $451,650; the special education report totals $219.885; the support services report totals $347,110, and the extracurricular report totals $64,961.

Clark said, "There is a lot of work left to be done and we don't know yet where the cuts will be made.

"Certain people are turf protecting and some programs are very dear to special interest groups," Clark said. "But we are going to go through our process of deliberating the reductions.

"Monday we submitted those reports to the districtwide curriculum committee and the executive committee of CTA (Community Teachers Association)," he said.

The reports also went to all building principals.

"This week the building principals are sitting down with their staffs to discuss the reports."

Reactions from staff, the curriculum committee and the teachers group will be added to the reports, which ultimately will go to a new-funds committee by Feb. 17.

"The cuts are not etched in stone," Clark said. "It obviously has to come to my committee and then to the board."

The new-funds committee includes Clark, CTA representatives Jo Peukert and Mary Hart, Business Manager Larry Dew and board member John Campbell.

"We're going to look at the impact of the reductions on the whole program," Clark said. "There are not any preconceived areas that will be cut."

The new-funds committee will submit a budget reduction package to the school board at the March 9 meeting.

Board President Pat Ruopp said: "Then the board will have to hash through it. The board has its own priorities." He said the board "could go along with the package or send it back to the drawing board, or we might not agree with a certain part of the package or a particular reduction."

Clark said: "There seems to be lots of confusion because we have both internal and external committees looking at the budget.

"The budget reallocation committee has very little to do with the external Project Partnership committee," Clark said. "Internally we are looking at the budget and those areas where we might reduce budget to create a balanced budget."

The Project Partnership committee is studying the district's budget to make suggestions for a long-range plan.

Ruopp said: "That committee is an aid to the board in putting together a long-range plan and determining what direction we should go. The reductions that's a different ball game."

The finance committee of Project Partnership, headed by Harry Rediger, met for the first time Tuesday.

Ruopp said: "We are going to go by their recommendations. If the committees come back and say these programs are not beneficial to our students, or if they say we don't need a referendum, we are going to go by their recommendations.

"We very sincerely need input from the community about what kind of educational system they expect," he said. "There are no preconceived notions on the part of board and administration."

Ruopp said: "On a more critical note, within the next year we feel we have a good idea how much money we have to operate on, and we also know how much we are going to spend. With the state law being that we cannot spend more than we have, we realize we have to make these cuts."

Also adding to the confusion, Clark said, is an early retirement incentive program for the school district that is now in the works. Clark said a recommendation is likely at the February board meeting.

"A lot of folks are waiting to see what kind of incentive we come up with, and that will have some impact. From the beginning we have said we want to do any personnel reduction through attrition, if possible."