Provo district lays out $6 million in potential savings, seeks board direction on $2 million cuts
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Summary
Superintendent Wendy Dow told the Provo School Board the cabinet has identified about $6 million in possible savings but the district needs roughly $2 million in cuts before truth-in-taxation; options discussed include eSchool consolidation, AVID changes, discretionary funding reductions, furlough days and program adjustments.
Provo School District leaders presented a range of budget options and trade-offs to the board during the Jan. 27 study session as they seek to close a multi-million-dollar gap.
Superintendent Wendy Dow said cabinet work has identified roughly $6 million in potential savings, but restoring teacher pay increases and a projected insurance cost would reduce that cushion. "If we were, for example, to increase teacher salaries at $2,000 on the base, that would be almost $2,100,000 — so now my $6,000,000 worth of savings went down to $3,900,000," Dow said, illustrating the trade-offs between restorations and savings.
District staff described specific line items and estimated savings: consolidating the existing eSchool option could save about $500,000; an AVID membership fee and related professional development was listed at about $32,000 for membership and roughly $100,000 in travel/PD that could be reduced; trimming the discretionary per-student allocation from $330 to $250 was projected to yield about $1,000,000 (net of other funding sources about $600,000); and eliminating Camp Big Springs could free $300,000 for this year and another $300,000 next year, though the camp requires repairs. Staff also presented options for reducing administrator vacation sell-back, trimming extra contract days for counselors and instructional specialists, and an attendance incentive for teachers to reduce substitute costs.
As an illustrative personnel option, Dow noted a one-day employee furlough across the district would generate about $500,000 but would be unpopular: "We know this would be highly, highly unpopular," she said. Staff emphasized any furlough would be temporary and preserve contractual days but acknowledged the political difficulty.
Board members asked for timing and clarity. Staff said final decisions on staffing-affecting items must be finalized by the second February board meeting to meet required notification timelines, and they added a request for a clear tab of decision due dates in the working document.
Board members also discussed state-level uncertainty: the legislature's pending decisions on the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) and possible cuts to flexible allocations could reduce anticipated state revenue; the district also cited a projected enrollment decline (about 400 students, roughly a $2 million revenue loss), which compounds local budget choices.
No formal motions or votes on specific cuts were taken; staff asked the board for directives and a prioritized set of options to transmit to schools and to inform the negotiation package with employees. The board scheduled more in-depth budget discussion time at an upcoming meeting and asked staff to prepare clearer due dates and impact estimates.
Next steps: staff will provide a due‑date-tracked version of the budget options, cost estimates for prioritized items, and a recommendation for which items to present to community councils and principals by the February board meeting.