Woodmore schools to lay off counselor, make other cuts
6/23/2010WOODVILLE - In a continuing effort to trim costs, Woodmore Local Schools has decided to lay off the elementary school's guidance counselor and make other changes that will save about $100,000 a year.
The school board last week approved eliminating the elementary counselor position for the upcoming school year, as well as reducing hours for one high school art teacher.
Hours for the other high school art teaching position were trimmed as part of last school year's cutbacks.
Members also approved filling an open elementary position with a middle school teacher, which will save money while increasing class sizes in the middle school.
They had decided to reduce employment for administrative staff by 10 days a year, Jane Garling, Woodmore superintendent, said.
Whether more cuts will be needed depends on the outcome of a vote in August on a 2.99-mill, five-year emergency operating levy - and how much the state gives school districts, she said. "You just get to the point where you think 'What else can you do?'•"
The new tax would cost homeowners 25 percent less annually than a 4-mill operating levy ending this year that will not be renewed, or around $90 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house. The 2.99 mill levy was defeated in May, but the board is asking voters to reconsider.
Last week, the school board agreed to put a 1.1-mill, five-year operating levy on the November ballot for Harris-Elmore Public Library. The district is the library's taxing authority, and the levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 house in Harris, Allen, and Clay townships about $35 a year.