Red Oak Schools to cut/reduce 16 jobs saving $740K

 After weeks of deliberation and number crunching, the Red Oak school board finalized budget reductions of more than $740,000 heading into the next fiscal year. 

District-wide, almost 16 positions will be eliminated or reduced, including more than six teaching positions. 

The district will be making around $1 million in cuts throughout the next two years due to an enrollment decrease of around 40 students, but the more cuts made the first year, the better, according to Superintendent Terry Schmidt. 

“It’s a high number, $740,000,” Schmidt said. “The board of directors determined it would be better to move ahead aggressively with high cuts this year so we don’t have to do as much of this hard stuff again next year.” 

The “hard stuff” Schmidt said is eliminating or reducing personnel numbers. 

More than half of the 6.5 teaching positions being eliminated will occur at the high school level, although two are through attrition. 

The high school French teacher and a physical education/health instructor will both be retiring after this year and Schmidt said the positions will not be refilled. 

The PE/health position will be absorbed, but French, Schmidt said, is the one program to be cut due to the budget restrictions.  

“The number of students enrolled in French has always been low, so we made the decision to not refill the position left,” he said. “Aside from French, no other programming will be cut.” 

Online programs will be provided for juniors and seniors currently enrolled in French looking to gain credits to complete their course requirements.  

The high school will also see a loss of 1.5 other teaching positions to be determined. 

Elsewhere in the district, the middle school will lose 1.5 positions. One full time position will be eliminated at Washington Intermediate, and a shared counselor positions between Washington and Inman Primary will be reduced from full to half time. 

Inman will see no full time position eliminated. 

“Cutting from Inman would put class sizes up to 28 or 29 students, and that’s something no one was comfortable with,” Schmidt said. “At the secondary level, there’s more flexibility. The high school was the most vulnerable to have the most cuts.” 

Specific positions being cut will be announced and approved by the board by the end of April. 

Aside from teachers, three paraeducator positions will be cut, along with 1.5 food service positions, one secretarial position, 2.5 positions in maintenance and operations and one in transportation. 

Schmidt said some of these cuts have already been achieved through shifts between departments. 

Non-personnel savings were also factored into the district’s budget reductions.

Paraeducators will have reduced hours on Wednesdays. The district will put a hold on the summer painting program, and the summer cleaning/maintenance program will be altered to improve efficiency, saving an estimated $8,000.

The district will also be cancelling its recycling contract, saving an average of $1,000 a month. 

“We are still committed to recycling; it’s not something we are giving up,” Schmidt said, mentioning the possibility of alternative programs. “But through our contract, they won’t collect one of the main things we recycle, milk cartons, because of their wax coating. So we don’t have the money and they can’t take what we have, it just makes sense.”

Elsewhere in the county, school boards are also finalizing significant budget cuts. 

Stanton Superintendent Chris Herrick said he’s expecting to see $70-90,000 in savings for next year. The district will be reducing one teaching position in elementary special education through an agreed upon resignation, saving $45,000. 

Herrick said an English teacher is retiring and the board is looking into sharing the position, rather than refilling it to possibly save $40,000. 

“It’s possible we will look into other types of sharing,” he said. “If there are opportunities to share and reduce expenses, that’s where we want to go.” 

Herrick said more specific information on district-wide cuts will be known after the April 16 school board meeting. 

“The board is trying to avoid having to take an ax to the budget. Instead we are focusing on smaller more precise cuts as we go,” Herrick said. “This is a multi-year discussion. We understand costs increase, but we want to find a way to absorb those and keep expenses low. It’s never an easy conversation.”

At Southwest Valley, Superintendent Willie Stone said the Villisca district is looking to save around $285,000 through personnel cuts, including two elementary teachers, a building principal and making a guidance position part-time.  Exact positions being cut have not yet been released. 

One other cut is being made through attrition. 

“It was regretful, of course, for the board to have to do this,” Stone said. “Nothing was done because of poor performance; every decision was made because of the budget. We are going to work with those losing their jobs to help secure new positions.”

Because of the cuts, Stone said class sizes will likely increase, but the district intends to offset it with more support staff on hand. No programming will be impacted. 

The Corning district will also be making budget reductions, according to Stone, but nothing has been finalized. 

“Our enrollment is dropping, just like everywhere,” he said. “So we are trying to protect our unspent authorized budget to stay in the black.”