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District models up to $11 million in cuts if levies fail; board staff outline proportional reduction approach
Summary
Finance staff presented a planning model that frames an $11 million worst‑case budget gap combining projected deficits and potential operating-levy failures; the administration proposed an illustrative proportional cut (about 11% across most general-fund categories) to show magnitude and implications for staff and class sizes.
District finance staff told the school board Oct. 6 they are preparing for a range of possible budget outcomes and demonstrated an illustrative model that would require roughly $11 million in reductions if both proposed operating-levy questions failed and projected deficits materialize.
Dr. Robin and finance staff described the model as an early, high‑level planning tool rather than a proposal. The $11 million figure aggregates: roughly $3 million in permanent reductions the district plans to make regardless of levy outcomes; about $5 million in either/or revenue from an operating-levy Question 1 (or the equivalent cuts if voters reject it); an assumed $0.5 million in additional reductions in the following year; and about $2.5 million tied to Question 2 outcomes.
The presentation illustrated a proportional scenario that applies an 11% reduction uniformly across most general‑fund program categories to estimate the scale of staffing and program impacts. Finance staff cautioned the proportional illustration is a planning device: special-education and certain 900-series accounts face legal and practical limits, so special education reductions were modeled at a smaller proportional level (approximately 4% in the illustrative table) because of maintenance-of-effort constraints.
Staff explained that teachers account for a majority of operating costs and that an illustrative 11% proportional cut could equate to a rough range of 70–80 full‑time teaching positions districtwide, with heavier impacts in some grade levels and class-size increases in elementary cohorts if reductions come from classroom positions. The administration emphasized this is preliminary work to inform a public process: actual decisions would come later, with board direction, collective-bargaining considerations, statutory constraints and attempts to protect core classroom services where possible.
The board asked about early actions, retirements and the timeline for formal decisions. Administration said it will continue to refine scenarios, provide more targeted options that minimize instructional disruption and return to the board with specific proposals if cuts are required.
