Lebanon
The unanimous vote brings the district’s projected budget to nearly $40.6 million for the 2017-18 school year, a roughly $1.6 million increase over this year.
If voters approve the budget in March, school officials predict the tax rate would increase about 74 cents per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. That would amount to an additional $184 in taxes for homeowners with a house valued at $250,000.
Board members dipped into the district’s capital reserve funds to take much of the budget’s burden off of taxpayers, voting to spend $353,000 in reserves to cover the cost of school renovation payments.
They also voted to do away with several teaching positions, as well as cut funds to several clasroom programs some on the board considered unnecessary.
Much of Wednesday’s meeting was devoted to discussions on individual teaching positions, beginning with a part-time science and world language teacher at Lebanon Middle School. “At some point you are going to need to add teachers. I was trying to do it in an incremental manner that would help us maintain class sizes as they are,” Principal Martha Langill said, after the board cut the positions.
Also on the chopping block was $10,000 for additional classes at Lebanon High School. Principal Ian Smith originally requested $20,000 for the proposed programs, but told the board the school would make due with less.
About $12,000 in textbooks also were cut from the Lebanon Middle School budget, with the approval of administrators.
School officials had to fight to keep the board from making further cuts, thwarting an attempt to cut the hours of a 504 coordinator at the high school. The position helps students with learning and attention disabilities. Smith said the additional $38,000 needed to fund the position was necessary, especially since it aids about 90 students at the school. He agreed to earlier budget cuts that did away with two teaching positions at the high school, but wouldn’t budge on the 504 coordinator.
“We have determined we can run fewer math classes, fewer science classes and fewer English classes,” Smith said. “(But) we simply don’t have enough time in the day for us to meet (504 student) needs.”
Board member Richard Milius agreed, saying the district needs to serve students and the money is “probably well spent.”
Later in the meeting, board members argued over funding teachers at the Hanover Street and the Mount Lebanon elementary schools.
Board member Kathleen Berger said she toured the Hanover Street School and was surprised by the “amount of special education.”
She said each elementary school has two teachers and two paraprofessional educators working to help children with behavior issues outside of the classroom.
Berger proposed cutting those positions in half, much to the dismay of school administrators, who explained the importance of the district’s intensive needs program.
Superintendent Joanne Roberts said the program was born four years ago, when the district was seeing children injure themselves and hurt staff to the point where the state Department of Education conducted an investigation. Now, teachers are assigned to work with students who develop behavioral issues, sometimes outside classes and in special rooms. Ultimately, a vote to cut the positions failed, 4-5.
Later in the meeting, the board also considered a proposal to fund an additional teacher and paraprofessional at the Hanover Street School. That effort failed, and the board instead encouraged the superintendent to find money elsewhere in the budget to fund the positions.
The Lebanon School District’s deliberative session is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 4.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.