School board braces for 8 percent budget cut

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January 11, 2013

School board braces for 8 percent budget cut

By MATT CHRISTIAN Princeton Times The Zope Gazette Fri Jan 11, 2013, 05:02 AM EST

PRINCETON — The fiscal cliff may be coming to Mercer County after all.

Mercer County Schools Superintendent Deborah Akers told the Mercer County Board of Education Tuesday evening that the board will be forced to prepare next year’s budget with an 8 percent cut to federal funding.

The federal department of education announced a 60-day moratorium on changes to federal funding from Jan. 1 to see the impact of the fiscal cliff on their budget. Because of this and the state statutory requirements for budgeting and personnel changes, there is not enough time for the board to make adjustments to the budget for the 2013-14 school year.

Board President Greg Prudich said, “This is just another set of unintended consequences from the failure of Washington to get its act together and do what it’s supposed to.”

“We’re starting to look at ways we can operate more efficiently,” Akers said.

Some areas that she mentioned to the board were the implementation of a custodial budget. Akers reported that she had heard of custodians with several supplies stacked up in closets and such.

“We might be able to put a cap on that,” Akers said. “That way, we’re ordering because we need things and not just to have them.”

Transportation was another area the board was looking at operating more efficiently. Akers said the board was hoping to get to use software to more efficiently map bus routes once Mercer County was fully in-line with the E-911 system. Also, she was instructing bus drivers not to arrive 30 minutes early to transport students for after school programs.

“That’s an area we could cut,” Akers said. “We have 30 minutes of overtime when we don’t really need to.”

Yet another area is the playing of sporting events closer to Mercer County and the reducing of athletic budget. Akers said the goal would be to maintain good teams but more efficient good teams.

Other areas Akers discussed with the board included the effect grants have on the positions in Mercer County. Some positions in the county are based on grant funding and not subject to federal funding cuts. Akers cited the academic coaches at Mercer County Technical Education Center and the technology integration specialists through out the county as examples.

•••

“Something that I plan to bring up with the Legislatures when we meet with them next week is the OPEB liability,” Akers said.

At an earlier time, during earlier statewide fiscal crises, the state department of education reached an agreement to provide benefits after the teachers at that time retired. Akers said the board was forced to carry around $2.5 million in a liability for the teachers that had already retired and were still living.

She said, “There’s nothing for us to do with that money, but we have to keep it there. If we go ahead and spend it, we’re going to show a deficit.”

Prudich added, “It would be a paper deficit.”

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Akers moved on to a final area that would actually help the board in battling a shortage of funds. According to information she provided, the program that allows all students in Mercer County to eat breakfast and lunch free is going so well the board is ahead, despite adding additional position.

Still, board members believed that working toward efficiencies would only go so far in battling an expected $2 million shortage.

“You’re going to have to get into personnel,” Vice President Gilbert “Gene” Bailey told Akers.

“You’re right,” Akers agreed. “At some point, we may have to.”

Akers added that some of the individualized special education plans may become more uniform to encourage efficiency in that area.

— Contact Matt Christian at mchristian@ptonline.net.

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School board braces for 8 percent budget cut

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