D-49 board cuts 143 jobs, OK's fee-based busing plan

A staffing plan that eliminates 143 jobs, including teaching positions, in Falcon School District 49 was approved Wednesday by the school board.

Board members also voted to reinstate the Transportation Department as fee-for-service operation with no budget other than the money necessary to bus special education students. That vote caused the crowd at Falcon High School to erupt in applause.

After that cheerful moment, Chief Education Officer Becky Carter delivered her staffing plan, which was approved but not released Wednesday. It eliminated 108 positions in schools; 16 in learning and pupil services; 10 in special education; six in facility maintenance, and three 3 in other/administration.

Staff reductions include teachers, custodians and support personnel, board Secretary Tammy Harold said, adding the most of the cuts are not teachers.

“Any time you have one it’s bad,” said board Treasurer Andy Holloman. “Many of those names I don’t know, but many of those names I’m sure I do.”

Board President Dave Martin and other board members said the idea is to take care of cuts mostly through attrition.

Carter said she did not know of any pay or benefit cuts that would be enacted, as suggested in the board packet.

Affected employees will be notified by Carter, principals or the innovation leaders by Friday.

Before the board voted on issues, a short presentation covered the budget situation.

The district is looking at about $11 million in cuts, based on averaging two possible state budgeting scenarios, district finance Director Brett Ridgway said.

After assuming $1.5 million in transportation savings, the district was looking at $9.5 million in cuts.

About 49 percent of those cuts must come from the clusters of schools in the innovation zones, Ridgway said. That would yield about $5.4 million of the total cuts needed. The rest of the savings would be found in other areas, such as centralizing some services and dealing with one-time issues.

Many of the roughly 145 people attending the meeting were there to support the Transportation Department’s plan to continue to provide busing in the fall.

D-49 transportation Director Cindy Hardin said she expects a dip in ridership when the $1-per-ride fee is enacted, and has planned accordingly.

“We will try to sell transportation to other revenue-generating sources,” she said, adding that the department intends to market to charter schools.

The package of changes includes the bus fee and a blend of circuit and corridor busing, which would include putting students of all ages on the same bus. At the previous meeting, Hardin estimated the first year costs at $97,000; the department expects to be self-supporting in the second year.

The recommendation as approved by the board contained no money other than that needed to cover federally mandated special education busing. Ridgway said the start-up costs have been figured into the budget.

Holloman and other board members said they wanted to make it clear that if the Transportation Department can’t deliver on the zero-cost option, they will be forced to look at other options.

“Somehow, someway we have to make sure we have a back-up plan,” Martin said.

In other action Wednesday, the board approved using $442,014 remaining from the 2005 mill levy override to install artifical turf for the Vista Ridge High School baseball field.

Contingency funds and storm drain pipe allowance funds would cover the $65,587 needed for the total cost of the project, according to bord documents.

The artificial turf is expected to last at least 12 years, construction project manager Doug Ferebee told the board.

The mill levy override money had to be used for projects at Vista Ridge, district spokeswoman Stephanie Wurtz Meredith said. The baseball field was part of a long list of priority projects.

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