School district pay cuts to be considered

Boundary County School Board will be asked to take the necessary steps to cut wages up to 5 percent for the school district’s 226 employees.

The board will consider the issue during a meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, in the Boundary County Middle School Library.

The school board spoke to district employees about potential cuts during an April 9 meeting. At that time, the state indicated it was considering cutting its funding to school districts by 2.6 percent for teachers, secretaries, custodians, aides, bus drivers and cafeteria workers. Administrators, including principals, could expect a 5 percent pay cut.

Last week, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter signed the public schools budget for fiscal year 2010 into law. In doing so, Otter gave school districts authorization to declare a financial emergency and negotiate with teachers to possibly lower salaries, said Superintendent Don Bartling.

Board member Sulet Hiatt could not say how she might vote.

“We meet at out budget meeting Tuesday, prior to the board meeting,” Hiatt said. “So I really can’t say until we’re all together.”

The budget approved in the Legislature reduces state funding for public education by 3.2 percent next school year. The Legislature used $60 million in funding from the federal stimulus package to offset even deeper cuts to public education.

“This is a difficult time for all of us involved in education. No one wants to cut education, “ Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said in a news release. “Unfortunately, with state revenues continuing to decline, we cannot avoid it. I am relieved the Legislature heeded my advice and worked to minimize these cuts as much as possible," Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. "Now that the budget is set, we can begin working directly with Idaho schools to ensure these budget cuts do not impact student achievement next year."

 Boundary County School District gets 80 percent of its funding from the state.