Soulsbyville board will cut stipends

The Soulsbyville School governing board Thursday night voted to suspend board stipends and health benefits and adopted a list of cost-saving measures.

The move to suspend stipends for the rest of this year will save the district $4,400, said board President Denise Houghton. Suspending the health benefits and stipends the board receive will save the district $21,000 next year, she said.
   

It is only a one-year reduction, Houghton said, and the board will revisit it again next year.

“Our deficit will go down,” because of the suspension, she said.

This move was part of a list of 14 items the board adopted as cost-saving measures to curb deficit spending.

The district is attempting to cut $500,000 from its budget this school year, said Superintendent Jeff Winfield. Over the next two years, it hopes to cut $750,000.   

The list of items includes making athletics and field trips self-funded, suspending the student council adviser stipend, discontinuing the purchase of bottled water, having the yearbook staff be volunteer, reducing parent paper bulletins to one per month and encouraging e-mail and Internet communication, and encouraging parents and staff to schedule activities outside of school time to bolster attendance rates.

The list also included having a target 10 percent reserve of unrestricted funds. The state requires districts to keep a 4 percent reserve, but Soulsbyville has more than 10 percent ($478,000) in its reserve.

The district said the reserve is a “rainy day” fund.

“It’s raining,” Winfield said.

The list of cost-saving reductions came from a budget focus group made up of teachers and staff.

In addition to the other measures, the district issued five preliminary layoff notices to teachers and will cut some support staff, Winfield said.

In other business, the bus transportation lead Karen Malone gave an update to a bus route issue in lower Crystal Falls.

“The main problem, is that road,” Malone said, referring to Crystal Falls Drive.

Soulsbyville School is the only district in the county that both enters on Crystal Falls Drive and exits on it. It is especially tricky, however, on icy or snowy days.

Malone and the transportation department have investigated taking other routes through Ridgewood Estates, the closest alternative. They have also considered using a van or adding another bus driver and route, and have even spoken with neighboring district Curtis Creek about doing some ride-sharing.

“Parents want that bus to be regularly scheduled,” Winfield said. “It needs to be very routine.”

Malone said they’ve yet to figure out a solution, but they are working diligently to find one.

“What I hear is a commitment to service,” Houghton said. “We’ll figure it out.”