District 34 administrators have identified a list of potential strategic budgeting items to address the budget shortfalls projected for this year and the foreseeable future. This list was presented to the Board on Monday, Feb. 6 and the powerpoint presentation from that evening is available.

The “initial scenario” would result in nearly $3.2 million in reductions. This dollar amount represents the midpoint between the two budget shortfalls projected for the 2012-2013 school year by the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee (CFAC).

“It is important to remember that this is an initial scenario and that no final decisions have been made,” Superintendent Dr. Gerald Hill says. “We are in the middle of the strategic budgeting process and are interested in gathering the thoughts and feelings of our community, parents and staff around this information.”

The next step in the process is to gather input from community, parents and staff. The Board of Education is scheduled to make a final decision at 8 p.m. at the April 16 meeting at Westbrook School, 1333 Greenwood Road.

The items in the initial scenario are represented in eight areas including: restructuring ($1.1 million); class size ($748,000), administrative services ($613,095); budgets ($227,039); support services ($175,630); fine arts ($159,500); transportation ($115,018); and technology ($59,408). The specific details about these potential changes are available. The specific details about these potential changes are also available en espanol.

While approximately 80% of the District 34 budget is salaries and benefits, 73% of the items identified in the initial scenario are related to personnel costs.

In addition to the initial scenario, administrators identified seven items grouped as “additional scenario considerations.” These are items that were strongly considered for inclusion in the initial scenario, but fell short once the mid-range target amount was reached for this tentative proposal.