The Jordan School Board voted earlier this year to cut up to $500,000 from the districts budget in order to stop the decreasing general fund balance before the district is completely out of money.

The board will consider the recommendations of a budget reduction committee, which met for the first time Monday. At the meeting, Superintendent Larry Kauzlarich presented 30 suggestions he had received from board members, district staff, administrators, and district residents.

Just because the items were included on the list doesn’t mean that they should happen or that they will happen, Kauzlarich said. He included every suggestion he received, regardless of how realistic they may or may not have been.

The committee members will consider the recommendations before meeting again with school board members March 31.

Kauzlarich divided the list of suggestions into two tiers – the first tier would be less likely to have a major impact on the students, while the second tier would have a definite impact on the students.

Here are the first-tier options the committee will consider:

• removing one teaching position in the elementary school, resulting in a savings of about $46,000. Kauzlarich said the elementary school has seven teachers at the first grade level this year, and that number probably isn’t necessary based on the number of students in the grade. Reducing the number of teachers could result in a class size of around 22 students next year. The district would be able to remove another teaching position in the elementary, but will need an additional teacher at the middle school to help with a large class of fourth-grade students who will be moving to the middle school next year.
• dropping the elementary media aid position, resulting in a savings of about $18,000. The elementary school is the only school in the district with a media aid. Dropping the position would change the way the school delivers services in the media center, Kauzlarich said, but wouldn’t not hurt a specific subject-area class.
• dropping the Prairie Fire Theater drama production, resulting in a savings of $2,500. The cost of the yearly drama production includes hotel stays, travel costs, and other additional fees for the company that brings the theater production to Jordan, Kauzlarich said. The admission prices of the performances only cover the cost of the hotels. At the same time, cutting the program would mean that students don’t have an opportunity to participate in drama until seventh grade.
• dropping two general paraprofessional positions in the middle school, saving about $35,000. Hiring the two additional paraprofessionals was something the district did to bring extra help to the middle school while they had an excess fund balance, Kauzlarich said. The two positions are paid through the general fund.
• eliminating vocational bussing for high school students to Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative in Chaska, saving about $18,000. The district used to let kids drive themselves to the cooperative, Kauzlarich said, but decided that was too dangerous. An added benefit of the district not transporting the students would be that they could take Carver-Scott classes at any time of day, rather than at specific times that a bus could bring them to the school. Other districts in the cooperative do allow their students to drive themselves, High School Principal Mark Ruggeberg said.
• dropping the student option to attend vocational training altogether, saving about $75,000 (which includes the $18,000 bussing cost). There are 28 students taking classes at Carver-Scott this year. If the district brought those students back to Jordan High School for the entire day, it could fill up other classes and create the need for additional teachers, Kauzlarich said. If those students all signed up for industrial arts courses at the high school, another option the district could consider at that point would be to cut the middle school industrial arts program.
• dropping any class offerings that include 10 or fewer students, the savings from which would depend on the number of students who could register for specific classes. If the teachers teaching these smaller classes were able to teach other classes, it could reduce on the amount the district has to pay for teachers for teaching extra classes during their school day, Kauzlarich said. A lot of larger schools drop high school class offerings if they don’t have enough interested students, he said.
• dropping extra duty positions like auditorium supervisor, honor society supervisor, and middle school student council supervisor, saving about $3,500.
• dropping weight room supervision pay, saving about $5,000. The coaches of Jordan’s sports program give year-round supervision of the weight room, Kauzlarich said. They would not be happy about this proposed cut, he said.
• dropping the district’s Journalist newsletter, saving more than $2,000. The $2,000 savings that Kauzlarich included on the list of potential cuts was actually too low, Kauzlarich said. He didn’t have the exact figure that would include the cost of postage for the newsletters, which also already appear on the district’s Web site.
• dropping a pay increase approved by the Jordan School Board this year, saving about $1,500.
• opening the district bus contract to private companies, which could result in savings depending on the bids received. This is not a negative comment on the district’s current bus service through Benjamin Bussing, Kauzlarich said. But he has already received at least one call from an interested bus company who could bid for Jordan’s services. The school board would have to make a decision on which bid to accept sometime this summer.
• taking over bus service at a district level, which could save more than $100,000 a year after paying back money spent on buses, garage space, and other costs. Kauzlarich said he doesn’t see this happening this year, but that it is something that the district might consider as another option down the road. The difference between the school operating its own busses and using a private company is that the school would not have to make a profit with their busses.
• only transporting students who live more than 1 mile from the elementary school or more than 2 miles from the high school, the savings of which would depend on the number of bus routes that could be eliminated, with each new route costing about $40,000 a year. The district is already generous in who they bus to school, Kauzlarich said. District bus driver Jeanne Eischens said there are a number of stops on bus routes from which the kids could easily walk to school.
• asking the teachers of the district to vote to return some of the money distributed under staff development, saving about $50,000. The district is required to set aside 2 percent of its general fund every year for staff development, Kauzlarich said. That money is used to pay for curriculum days, and the remaining money is divided up between the buildings. The teachers control the extra funds, Kauzlarich said, and could choose to give it back to the general fund.
• and reducing the district supply budget by 25 percent to cover essentials only, saving about $50,000. The district spends approximately $194,000 on its supply budget, Kauzlarich said. This budget was already reduced last year, but could be reduced again.

Here are the second-tier options the committee will consider:

• dropping the district gifted and talented program, saving about $28,000. It isn’t a question of whether this is a good program, Kauzlarich said, but hard choices have to be made. The program started three years ago.
• dropping the all-day kindergarten program and offering only half-day kindergarten, saving between $70,000 and $110,000, depending on bus transportation costs or the loss of students to other districts that do offer all-day kindergarten – an option that could instead include charging parents a substantial fee for an all-day kindergarten program. This is a proposed cut that comes up every time the district is facing budget cuts, Kauzlarich said. All-day kindergarten is a positive program for the district, and cutting it could lead to families bringing their children to other districts that do offer all-day kindergarten, Kauzlarich said. Jordan resident and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District Principal Dave Helke said his district does charge a substantial fee for all-day kindergarten. Another option, Kauzlarich said, would be to offer 2-1/2 days of kindergarten for different classes each week, meaning students would come to class for two days one week and three days the next. This would mean the school could get by with fewer kindergarten teachers.
• asking the high school dean of students to teach additional classes, reducing the amount the district has to pay to other teachers for teaching additional classes – a move that would save about $6,000 to $11,000, depending on how many other teachers would reduce their extra class loads. The classes that the dean would teach would have to fall within his or her licensure area, Kauzlarich said.
• dropping additional extracurricular program paid positions, including some assistant coaches, some drama assistant directors, small ensemble directors, and the Students Against Destructive Decisions adviser – a move that would save about $14,000. The school board receives requests for additional assistant coaches every year, Kauzlarich said.
• dropping the Students Adjusting In Life (SAIL) program, which helps students in grades 7-12 who struggle with classes but do not qualify for special education, saving about $33,000. This program was originally paid through the district's special education funds, but now the district has an obligation of approximately $33,000 for the program every year. If the district doesn’t keep the program, Kauzlarich said, there is a possibility that the students would instead attend area learning centers instead of Jordan schools. Loosing 4-5 students to area learning centers would negate any savings created by cutting the program, he said. Ruggeberg said the program helps students stay at their grade level in their classes.
• reducing the district Title I program, which serves elementary students who struggle in reading, to only what is covered through state funding, saving about $50,000. The district subsidizes the funds received from the state to a large degree, Kauzlarich said. He thinks the district is running a good program, and one that is valuable.
• dropping one media specialist position and adding additional paraprofessionals, saving between $18,000 and $27,000 depending on the number of paraprofessionals hired. When the high school opened and created another media position, the district took a lot of flak for not filling it with a licensed professional, Kauzlarich said. But other districts are cutting licensed media specialists if they have to.
• eliminating physical education, music, and art in the elementary school and having classroom teachers teach those subjects. The district would be allowed to do this under state standards and requirements. Other districts in the state have also had to make this cut, Kauzlarich said. It is an undesirable cut, but if the district doesn’t pass a referendum soon, the board will have to make these kinds of cuts, he said.
• holding only two parent-teacher conferences a year and reducing the teacher contract days, which would have to meet the teachers union’s approval. This would save about $35,000.
• using volunteers to operate the clock, keep the scorebooks, and do announcing at district sporting events, saving about $2,500. This would mean that the district would have to find a volunteer who would commit to an entire season, Kauzlarich said. The district pays $36 a night for someone to manage the clock and the books, and $12 a night for announcers for volleyball and basketball.
• raising class sizes to more than 30 students, which would result in the need for fewer teachers at the elementary and middle schools, but will already be a reality at the high school next year – the savings from which would depend on the number of students who would enroll and the number of teachers needed.
• lowering the schools’ thermostats in the winter and raising them in the summer.
• dropping all extracurricular activities that don’t support themselves – Kauzlarich said that there are no extracurricular programs that are self sufficient and that the district is already dropping its cheerleading program next year, pending school board approval. There would also be a mass exodus of students from the district who would go to other districts where they could compete or participate, Kauzlarich said.
• and reducing the use of paraprofessionals for supervision duties and instead use teachers, something Kauzlarich said is already done.