TRAVERSE CITY -- A committee created to suggest budget cuts for next year in Traverse City's public schools has not definitively identified any reductions with only two meetings left on its schedule.
The 19-member group met roughly twice a month since August to slice anywhere from $2 million to $12 million from the district's general fund.
The school board is expected to discuss the committee's recommendation Dec. 14.
In past weeks, some committee members disagreed about how to distribute cuts -- spreading evenly among all areas or lopping off big-ticket items in hopes of sparing pain -- and discussion at times became heated among participants with a vested interest in a particular suggestion.
Initial shortfall estimates for 2010-11 were projected between $6 million and $11 million. Administrators said this month the deficit could reach $8 million.
The group this week continued to sort through a list of more than 60 items, including those concerning compensation that have to be negotiated by employee unions.
"We're going to have to deal with the big 800-pound gorilla in the room," committee co-chairman and school board member Dave Barr said of salaries and benefits, which comprise about 86 percent of operating expenses.
The district has six employee unions that represent teachers, school principals, bus drivers, food service employees, custodians and other support staff.
Among proposed compensation reductions are pay cuts for all employees and freezing or scaling back longevity payments for central administrators.
Some committee members want all employees to buy into the same health care plan, which could yield savings.
It can be done, if the district and union leaders commit to meeting until a joint agreement can be reached, said Seamus Shinners, president of the Traverse City Transportation Association.
The committee also discussed a two-year suspension of professional development for staff. Some teachers have said mandated days are not an efficient use of money.
Teachers who want to improve in their jobs will train themselves if professional development days are cut, said Rhonda Busch, a second-grade teacher at Interlochen Elementary, who addressed the committee.
"That's my responsibility if I want to get better as a professional," she said. "If the district chooses to purchase new curriculum or programs, it is their responsibility."
The committee next will meet Nov. 30.
