Published on August 4, 2010

The shoe has dropped for area schools who have been worried about the effect of state legislation on budgets for the 2011-2012 school year.

It hit with a big thump.

Department of Education officials said they expect the North Country Supervisory Union to trim next year’s budgets across the union by 2.220 percent.  Orleans Central Supervisory Union fared a little better with the state asking for a combined 2.114 percent cut.

The Department of Education sent out a massive spreadsheet Tuesday as required by a new state law that put into effect a version of the proposals contained in the Challenges for Change report, a blueprint for budget reductions and government restructuring created by a legislative group, members of Governor Douglas’ administration and a group of Minnesota-based consultants.

The spreadsheet suggested cuts for each district and showed calculations for each school within the district.

Although it is a public document, the spread sheet was not officially released to the public on Tuesday.  The Chronicle was given its copy by someone who had official access to it.

School officials were given 48 hours to study the figures and suggest corrections.  The final figures are to be released at a press conference on Thursday.

In making the proposed cuts the Department of Education was required to take into consideration factors such as fiscal restraint in prior years, staff-to-student ratios and the local poverty rate.  Each supervisory union has until December 15 to let the state know if it can make all or a portion of the cuts.

If the statewide budget reduction is less than the $23-million proposed by the legislation, the commissioner of education is to present a report suggesting actions the Legislature might take to achieve the budget goal.

North Country’s proposed cuts were on the high side of what the state is asking of districts.  In search of an across-the-board cut of about 2.053 percent (or $23-million) state officials requested cuts as high as 4.441 percent and as low as 1.05 percent.

The highest number is an extreme and represents the Rivendell Interstate School District in Fairlee.  More typical of the larger cuts was the 2.898 percent asked of the Colchester School District and the 2.686 requested from the Burlington School District.

The South Burlington School District on the other hand was asked to make the smallest sacrifice, a mere 1.05 percent cut.  The Essex North Supervisory Union also fared relatively well, with a 1.453 percent target for budget reductions.

In an interview conducted before the figures were released, Bill Talbott, the chief financial officer for the Department of Education, said these cuts will not be easy to make.

With an underlying inflation rate of about 1.9 percent, even holding a budget level requires significant cuts, he said.

North Country Union High School only passed an essentially level funded budget on the third try this year.  In creating the budget, school officials said they had to make over $300,000 in cuts just to hold even.  The breakdown of cuts by school suggests that if the figures don’t change, North Country Union High School will have to find cuts amounting to $263,599 or 2.34 percent of its 2010-2011 budget.

Amy Leroux, the chairman of the Irasburg Village School Board, said her school cut its budget slightly this year by laying off a part-time custodian, some of the food service staff and some school aides.  If the state demands more cuts she fears the school will have to reduce its instructional staff.

That may come to pass if the board decides it can meet the demand for a 1.77 percent cut, which would amount to $25,741.

At the press conference on Thursday local school officials will see the final numbers and know what challenges Challenges for Change poses for them.

To see the documents as released to the public on Thursday, August 5, please click here.