Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The board may wait until May to ask voters for more money.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- The Salem Board of Education will continue to make cuts in the wake of a key levy defeat.
A new 4.3-mill, five-year levy that would have generated $1.3 million a year for operating expenses was defeated by 54 percent of the voters earlier this month.
This week, the board eliminated busing within a two-mile radius and voted to lay off six bus drivers effective Dec. 21.
Board President Marguerite Miller said she is starting to hear complaints from parents who say they live 2.1 miles from school while the district busing director says they live 1.9 miles from school.
"I'm sure there are many, many angry parents," Miller said.
Anticipated actions
Before the election, the board spelled out the steps it would take to reduce costs if the levy failed. The board did not set specific dates for many of the spending reductions.
Miller said the board and administration are now trying to determine when the reductions can be made.
She deferred questions about any specific actions to Superintendent Stephen Larcomb, who could not be reached.
In the pre-election cuts, the board said it would close the middle school and move the pupils to the high school at the end of the school year. The board agreed this week to sell the middle school.
The district also agreed earlier to close Prospect Elementary and consolidate the pupils in the district's other elementary schools.
Miller said the poor economy was a key factor in the defeat. The district also had a variety of other problems ranging from theft by a former official to repairs to district facilities.
"Over the last five years, we have spent more than we have taken in," she said.
The board could put an issue on the special election ballot in February. But Miller said that could cost the district $10,000 or $12,000 for the polls to be opened with no guarantee of success. Miller said it may be better to wait for the May election to again ask voters for more operating revenue.
wilkinson@vindy.com