The Southern Lyon County board of education decided again to further study options in front of them to balance the 2010-11 budget for the district.
More than 200 people attended a board meeting that lasted more than three hours Wednesday. A large part of Wednesday evening’s discussion centered around balancing the 2010-11 budget. At the beginning of the meeting, three options were on the table. These included:
Option 1: which has a cost savings of $522,386 and calls for the reduction of the number of attendance centers from three to two and move to K-12 attendance centers to maintain both high schools and programs.
Option 2: Maintain three attendance centers with a savings of $360,000 and cutting nine positions in the district to get that savings.
Option 3: Combine both high schools into one and determine the location for a savings of between $594,475 to more than $685,000 depending on which suboption is chosen. The suboptions are:
F Option 3a: district junior/senior high school at Hartford, Olpe K-6 and Neosho Rapids K-6
F Option 3b: district junior/senior high school at Olpe, Olpe Elementary K-6, Hartford K-6 and Neosho Rapids closed.
F Option 3c: district junior/senior high school at Olpe, Olpe Elementary K-6, Neosho Rapids K-6 and Hartford closed.
F Option 3d: district junior high school; district high school; Olpe Elementary K-6 and Neosho Rapids Elementary K-6.
Around 10 p.m. and the conclusion of the discussion of the 2010-2011 budget, Superintendent Mike Argabright suggested a four-part option:
F Remove option 3 off the table.
“I do not feel our communities are ready for that component,” Argabright said. “Any of the scenarios with Option 3 will have an adverse effect on our enrollment. It takes away the integrity and tradition of our programs.”
F Implement and direct administrators to prepare and work on Option No. 2 as step one.
F Prepare Option 1 (Two K-12 structures) for a review of details at the March board meeting as step two.
F Timeline for implementation of Option No. 1:
“Criteria for full implementation for the 2010-11 school year:
Option No. 2 cannot fulfill the deficit. Determination of these criteria must be made on or before April 23, 2010.
If adequate cuts are made to fulfill the current deficit, Option No. 1 will be delayed and future reviewed for the 2011-12 school year.
The fall semester of the 2010-11 school term will be utilized to fully study, plan and prepare for transition of two k-12 school structures.”
The board came to a consensus to consider Argabright’s options and step away from the table for a period of time to consider the options at hand.