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Lansing Superintendent Stephen Grimm filled in the Board Of Education on the process school officials are developing to cut about $1.2 million out of next year's school budget.  Last year about the same amount was cut out of the rollover budget -- the amount it costs this year to do everything that was done last year.  Because of cuts in state aid and the effect of the disastrous economy on investments Lansing is faced with cutting more.  That will mean layoffs and cuts to programs that are deemed to be too costly.

"We're trying to identify what it would take to get to the levels we specified at the last meeting, which is about 1.2 million dollars," Grimm said Monday night.  "One of the things that's going to happen is that we'll have a long list and it will get shorter.  You have to have some method for making those kinds of decisions.  One of the ways to look at it is to think about the educational value of a program.  But it's the value to the entire system."


The rollover budget for next year is $23,921,093, up about $1.1 million from this year's total.  If spending were to remain at that level the tax levy would have to rise by nearly two million dollars, in part because of higher prices, but also to make up for reductions in state and federal aid, and in income from miscellaneous investments.  Additionally there are uncertainties about when Lansing will benefit from the federal stimulus package, and what PILOT monies will be available this year.

The good news is that revenue from State aid came in higher.  Put together with spending  an estimated $81,634 less than budgeted this year, the district will have a surplus of $403,247.

"We'd be doing lots of celebrating if there wasn't such an external problem of the lack of state revenue this year," he said.  "Now we're right where we were last year, needing to figure out how to develop this budget."

Grimm has been talking to the faculty and his leadership team -- which includes the three principals, the athletic director, director of special services and programs, and the school business official,  -- about the budget, how it might effect them, and the impact it would have on jobs.  He says the process will involve a rotation of feedback stating with the Board Of Education, then moving down through the ranks of the leadership team, faculty, and staff.  He is meeting with the faculty and staff of a different school each Friday.

"We'll have an open dialog with any faculty or staff member who would like to be there," he said.  "Part of the communications cycle also involves the budget committee.  The first (school board) meeting in March will include a presentation of the first draft, and the second meeting will have the second draft.  In the middle of March I'll meet with the community in a budget town meeting on March 12th.  I'll meet with the student leaders in March also, so we can get their input as well. "

Grimm says that over a million dollars of cuts must be made to get the tax levy down to the point where he thinks the community can tolerate it in tough economic times.  Cutting that much a second year in a row will unusually painful.  Grimm noted that one teacher salary averages around $55,000 plus benefits. 

"If you're going to cut a teacher you're only gaining about $55,000," he said.  "That takes a lot to get to a million dollars.  That's the reality of it.  You have o fundamentally change, in some cases, they way you are delivering education.  You have to think of a different way to do it."

Grimm says he will include everyone in the school comunity and the community at large in the decision making process.

"By the time we approve a final draft on April 6th we will be sure all the constituencies have been heard," he said.  "We'll take all that information into account when we make our final decisions."

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