S/T School Officials Cut $456,890 From Budget

The board approved the following cuts: $60,431, Taylor Elementary School teacher; $59,166, Taylor Intermediate School teacher; $42,252.25, Highland Primary School teacher; $64,856, Snowflake Intermediate School teacher; $42,884, Snowflake Junior High School teacher; $17,000, all labor pool; $34,700, copy budget; and $31,000, which is a 10 percent cut of the supply budget. Cuts at Snowflake High School include $3,451 for the salary for the cross country program and $6,067 for a tech specialist. The district office will cut $12,402 for the homeless liaison; $21,842, secretarial staff; and $36,235, business office supply, travel and purchase service.

Other cuts will be SHS cheerleader travel, SHS day soccer games only, and elimination of all personal refrigerators, microwaves and heaters.

This is a total cut of $456,890.25, with $8,109.75 remaining to be cut. “This is certainly better than $800,000 and $1.2 million like the last two years,” said Merrell, noting again, “We won’t have to RIF employees,” due to attrition through retirements and resignations.

“I’m grateful we had a work session where we could talk about these things before we had to vote,” said Board Vice President Ashley Davis, noting it was an open meeting and gave board members an opportunity to understand what they were going to vote on.

Merrell invited anyone with questions regarding what the district is doing in the area of budget cuts to call him or the staff at the district office.

The board unanimously approved renewal of employment of certified, classified and administrative staff for fiscal 2011-12, as well as the salary schedules. Business Manager Mark Ollerton stated that there were no changes except the dates.

Cindy Peterson of the Special Education Department requested approval to purchase 13 Smart Boards for the Student Services classrooms that will be used as a teaching tool for special needs students. The funding will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus grant, and the request was unanimously approved by the Board.

Ollerton requested a line of credit for the district from Wells Fargo Bank, stating, “Hopefully not to be utilized in its entirety.” He explained that they haven’t used any of the $3.6 million line of credit for this fiscal year, but noted that the state will withhold payment in April, May and June, and they expect to utilize the line of credit at that time.

In response to a question posed by board member John Stewart, Ollerton stated that they will pay back the money when the state pays the district.

In other action April 14, the board:

* Unanimously approved out-of-state travel for Indian Education Coordinator Starlena Begay to attend a Johnson O’Malley Program training session scheduled April 20-22 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Merrell explained that Begay is required to attend the training session, which will be teaching implementation of a new management system.

* Approved in a 3-2 vote out-of-state for the basketball coaches to attend the Nike Coaches Clinic scheduled May 6-8 in Las Vegas, Nev. Board members Jonni Lewis and Stewart opposed the measure.

“I don’t know if we should pay for this with the way things are,” said Lewis, who was told that the money could go toward the program.

Merrell said he felt that if they had programs, the board should provide support.

Board President Shea Flake said he felt that a quality basketball program was important.

Davis said, “They earn it,” explaining it is a way to improve the games and as the games improve, so does attendance.

Merrell further explained that this is not an annual event, and that it was the closest quality clinic to Snowflake.