226 school emloyees asked to take cut in pay

A meeting for cutting wages for Boundary County School District’s 226 employees will be held at 4 p.m. today, April 9, in the middle school library.

The district is proposing reducing the pay for teachers, secretaries, custodians, aides, bus drivers and cafeteria workers by 2.5 percent and administrators, which includes principals, by 5 percent.

The school district is taking the action because it expects to receive less money from the state, said Superintendent Dr. Don Bartling.

“We get 80 percent of our funding from the state Department of Education,” Bartling said. “If they cut back, we have to cut back.”

No decision is expected from the today’s meeting, said school board chairwoman Melanie Staples. The board will discuss whether to cut or freeze wages.

“Next year they possibly will not a raise again,” Staples said. “We just need to hear from everybody.”

In related matters, the state currently reimburses the school district for 85 percent of its transportation costs. The state is considering reducing its share to 50 percent. The 35 percent will be put into a separate fund for the school. the only things we would lsoe htere would be field trips, like Kootenai National Wildlife,

“We’d have to look at our transportation and see if there’s any way to make it more cost effective,” Bartling said. “Art (Linnemeyer, director of transportation) has done a good job at making transportation cost efficient.”

Something that may be considered is consolidating bus stops, which could require parents bringing their students to a central location to get the bus.