Carlton School Board discusses deep budget cuts

The Carlton school board met Monday, in large part to discuss again the possible cuts to meet a budgetary shortfall of about $500,000. The board is looking to cut that deficit in half for next school year with changes in curricular and extracurricular offerings, staffing levels and superintendent benefits.

The committee of the whole meeting was for discussion purposes only, with ideas, questions and information exchanged freely among all six board members, superintendent and participating staff. Any decisions on budgetary cuts will still need to be voted on at a regular board meeting.

Superintendent John Engstrom reported that high school students had recently been queried about their interest in elective courses taught with students and teacher present in the same classroom versus online only. Their responses showed that keeping in-person classes in art and business education were at the top of the list for many students. Engstrom said it takes 18 to 20 students in a class in order to not lose money for the district. For smaller classes, he has suggested greater use of Edgenuity, an online learning service that could offer students in sixth grade and up a wide array of courses that don’t meet the 18-to-20 student threshold.

A lengthy discussion of Edgenuity followed, with the board agreeing to have a representative from the vendor speak and take questions via Zoom at the next board meeting March 21.

Principal Ben Midge said a reduction of one section at the elementary school and reducing elementary staff accordingly was likely for the next school year. Midge said the reduction would be partially tied to the incoming number of kindergarten students, which he estimated at about 19 for September. He said there will probably be just one section of fifth-grade next year, reducing the total number of K-5 sections at South Terrace Elementary from the current 10 sections to nine.

The possibility of reducing some staff levels — such as those in nursing — to their pre-pandemic levels was also discussed. Engstrom said two paraprofessionals had resigned their positions during the course of this year and that those two positions could be offered as a single position.

A reduction of “sixth assignments” for teachers could also save the district up to roughly $26,000 per year, Engstrom said. These are assignments — such as an extra section of a class or a study hall — that teachers voluntarily fill and are compensated for.

Engstrom also introduced the topic of superintendent benefit reductions.

“I feel like it’s important to cut something from the superintendent’s position, as well. My recommendation is to keep the salary the same, but take the (retirement benefit) match for health and just eliminate it. That would save $12,000 or $13,000,” he said.

The final area for potential reductions the board looked at was co-curricular activities. This included discussion of adding and reducing, or eliminating activities such as robotics (which didn’t take place this year), coaching positions and sports. There was significant discussion of the merits of co-curricular activities and their importance to the student experience.

The next Carlton school board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 21. Board members will have the opportunity at that time to take comments from the public, review online curriculum offerings from Edgenuity, and possible vote on budgetary cuts.