BY LINDSAY VANHULLE
TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City's public schools are about to get leaner.
Members of a group set up to suggest a new round of budget cuts will begin work Monday to further pare a district that's already eliminated many of its extras.
Appointees said the task will be difficult, especially given the short window of time they have to propose millions of dollars in reductions for the 2010-11 school year. Their report is due on Dec. 1.
The 19-member committee will be led by school board members Dave Barr and Megan Crandall, and will include parents, teachers and other employee union members, administrators and citizens.
Their initial charge is to recommend budget cuts in the range of $2 million, $4 million and $6 million, in part because of the state's dismal economic outlook, while maintaining reserves totaling 10 percent of the district's general fund.
But Barr said the committee could consider cuts "up to whatever number we feel is appropriate," even if it exceeds $6 million.
"We're going to plan for the worst and hope for the best," he said.
Administrators have projected 2010-11 best- and worst-case budget deficits of $6 million and $11 million as they prepare for continued enrollment and revenue slides.
Its 2009-10 budget is roughly $90 million.
The committee will include representatives from preschool to high school, all of whom will pore over every aspect of the district's operations, said Colleen Smith, Willow Hill Elementary School principal and a committee member.
Drastic measures, such as eliminating entire arts or athletics programs, would yield quick savings but place too much of the burden on students, she added.
"That makes this a real challenge," she said. "We've been on a shoestring budget for a long time."
Barr said officials are working to televise the initial meeting on public access Channel 98. The public also will be able to weigh in during meetings, and plans are in the works to allow comments on TCAPS' Web site.
Committee members will be urged to avoid closing more schools.
The district's plan to minimize direct effects on students is "the right philosophy," said Cynthia Glines, a parent representative.
Her youngest son is a senior at West Senior High, and her oldest is a TCAPS graduate.
Parents often focus on how budget cuts will affect their own children, but "we've got a broad range of students in our district," Glines said. "We need to try to meet all their needs."
School board members in March approved $2.4 million in cuts for this year.
If you go
A 19-person committee to recommend budget cuts for 2010-11 in Traverse City's public schools will hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the district's administration building on Webster Street in Traverse City.
Committee members include:
- Dave Barr and Megan Crandall, school board members
- Jennifer Bonifacio, Beth Denoyer, Cynthia Glines and Michael Novik, parents
- Angela Camp, Charles Kolbusz, Colleen Smith and Steve Urbanski, principals
- John Pelizzari, local business representative
- Laura Galbraith, local nonprofit representative
- Angela Sides, TCAPS' early childhood director
- Seamus Shinners, president of the Traverse City Transportation Association
- Rolayne Casler, president of the Food Service Employees Association
- Matt Courtade, of the Traverse City Clerical, Assistants, Paraprofessional, and Secretaries Association
- Lori Jacobson, local president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) which provides maintenance and custodial services to TCAPS
- Two members of the Traverse City Education Association, to be determined
