Published in the Spring Grove/Richmond Report on 3/29/03

Nippersink Middle School must slash next year’s sports budget by half as part of a $603,169 budget reduction package unanimously approved last Tuesday by the District 2 School Board.

Other reductions for the 2003-2004 school year will include eliminating the K-8 Spanish program, eliminating the NMS librarian, not replacing two retiring elementary teachers, and dropping a technology operations lease.

Budget reductions are likely to continue through the summer and fall and beyond, district officials said.

NMS Associate Principal Kevin Shelton has the difficult task of reorganizing next year’s sports program to save $50,000. Some scenarios discussed by the board were eliminating one or two sports teams, increasing student fees, seeking corporate sponsorships, or making better use of intramural programs.

“Our priority is giving the kids the best opportunities given (the budget) we’ve got,” Shelton said.

Before the board vote, several community members spoke out against the proposed sports cuts. “What’s going to happen to school spirit?” asked Kelly McCann. “Who’s going to buy all those things that the Booster Club sells—the T-shirts, the jackets? Ninety percent of the reason kids like going to school is because of sports.”

Board member Dan Vetter acknowledged the importance of sports to the district. “Anyone who knows me knows how much I love sports. We tried to be as noninvasive as we could with the kids.” He added, “We will do whatever we can to make sure kids don’t get left out of anything.”

As a result of the budget cuts, next year’s kindergarten students will have to wait until 9th grade to study a foreign language. The board cut the district’s K-8 Spanish program for savings of $122,419. In a separate vote Tuesday, the board approved SGE Spanish teacher Celeta Kammerzelt’s resignation. RGS and NMS middle-school Spanish teachers Kimberly Massarelli and Megan Weber will most likely be shifted to regular classrooms, according to RGS principal Judi Jones.

The board also accepted the resignation of RGS second-grade teacher Julianne DeHaan, who is retiring after 18 years in the district. SGE fifth-grade teacher Anne O’Donnell , who has taught in the district for 26 years, is also retiring. Not replacing their positions will save the district another $135,000.

The board also voted to not renew the contracts of two first-year teachers, to eliminate one janitor; implement fees for summer school, clubs, and activities; and to reduce expenses for administrator travel and dues, school materials and supplies, and summer janitorial services. These cuts will save the district $119,750 next year.

The contracts of first-year RGS teachers Colleen Clary and April Bauer will not be renewed. According to RGS principal Judi Jones, it’s likely that teachers from Spring Grove Elementary with more experience will be moved into those positions.

The board had considered combining NMS’s health and physical education programs to save another $40,000. However, Nippersink’s Coach Ru successfully argued that the school’s existing four-part program was achieving “unbelievably positive” results. After a closed-session discussion, members voted to retain the health program for at least another year.

The district’s two elementary school librarians might have part-time duty at the middle school next year to cover the elimination of NMS librarian Diane Hooker. According to Nippersink Principal Julie Retzlaff, RGS and SGE librarians Jane Larsen and Roberta Starck will probably run library workshops for teachers and work two days a week at the middle school.

“It means we’re going to have to be more organized,” she said. “So if teachers are studying the Civil War, they’ll have to tell Jane or Roberta to pull materials ahead of time.”

Before presenting the budget reduction package for a vote, school Board President Nadine Kattner expressed thanks to the district’s budget committee, which included Dr. Zimmer, the school board members, three teachers, principals and associate principals from all three schools, and two parents. “It was not an easy decision to make, but we’ve done it,” she said.

Several board and members and administration officials said they weighed the suggestions from teachers, parents and students before recommending cuts. About 35 residents to braved a snowstorm to attend an open forum on March 13, and about 50 parents sent e-mails to the district, Jones said.

“The process has only begun,” Zimmer said. “We’re going to have to continue this budget-reduction process through the summer and fall and into the near future.”

Board members also unanimously approved a new three-year contract agreement between the Board of Education and Dr. Zimmer. No salary increase has been identified in the proposed contract, which will go into effect July 1. In December, the board approved a 7.5 percent raise for administrators, the same raise given to teachers in November. Those raises were retroactive to June 31, 2002.

Recognizing that students and teachers shouldn’t be the only ones to feel the budget squeeze, Zimmer and District Business Manager Lee Eakright will give back to the district any salary increase awarded to them for the coming year.

Newly elected board members will attend next month’s meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, April 8. At that meeting, the board will also reconvene the district’s Communication Council, which was disbanded after a lack of community turnout. The council, which will be less formal than regular board meetings, will “give people a chance to talk about what’s on their minds,” said board member Jim Hasken. Given the tough decisions being faced by the board, “it’s a good idea to bring it back,” Hasken said.

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