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Central Point schools plan cuts To balance its budget, the district will eliminate at least five teaching jobs and four other positions By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT � After escaping a budget ax that fell on most districts last year, Central Point schools must slash $800,000 and at least nine positions to balance next year�s books. Superintendent Candace Manary said the district will leave open 23 positions lost through attrition until Gov. John Kitzhaber and the Legislature resolve the state�s funding crisis. "Any retirements we have right now we will leave unfilled," she said. Fourteen teachers already have announced their retirement from the district and four have resigned. At a minimum, the district would not replace five teachers or the equivalent of 3.5 support staff and would consolidate one administrative position. Plans also have been tabled for an elementary school reading program, which the state can no longer fund. The district will consider other measures to balance the budget, including holding fewer field trips, cutting insurance costs, reducing extracurricular time for sports or clubs and reducing school maintenance. "There�s no sense painting Central Point Elementary if we�re going to tear it down next year," said Manary. A replacement elementary school is being built through about $30 million in voter-approved bonds, which legally can�t be used to help the current fiscal crunch. "The bond money can only be used for what�s specified in the bond," said Manary. Central Point joins every other school district in Jackson County in planning to reduce their budgets next year, primarily because of an almost $1 billion shortfall in state revenues. Manary said the full impacts on the district budget won�t be known until after the May 21 primary election. That�s when voters will decide on Measure 13, which would allow lawmakers to use $220 million of a school endowment fund to ease the state�s budget shortfall. With $800,000 in cuts, Manary said one of the big worries is class sizes, which are already higher than many districts in the area. Manary said the district hasn�t yet calculated the impact the cuts would have on student-teacher ratios. At the elementary schools, classes are currently in the 24- to 26-student range, with some kindergarten classes numbering 25. The high school has a music class with 100 students, a physical education class with 48 and some regular classrooms with 34. While the bond money will provide a better environment for students, Manary said it wouldn�t help with overcrowded conditions. "With our bond and with the new classrooms, we will have more space but not more teachers," she said. School board chairman Lenore Gebhard said, "This will be pretty devastating if we have to make any more cuts." Central Point was spared some of the major reductions in staff that plagued other districts last year because it has been making incremental cuts over the past 10 years. While no department will see entire programs wiped out, Gebhard worries about the impacts to students. "We have such a diverse group of kids," she said. "They all need some kind of attention, but some more than others." Some of the cuts that concern her include reduction to the music program, fewer part-time teachers and not replacing some retiring teachers. "I hope we don�t have to cut back on aides," she said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2002 Mail Tribune, Inc.