Ledyard schools look to what can be cut

Ledyard - In order to hold the line on spending next year, school staff will either face layoffs or must agree to reduced salary increases, schools Superintendent Michael Graner said Wednesday.

Negotiations with teacher union leaders are in progress, but Graner said no final determination has been made on how the school district will eliminate $1,041,000 from its 2012-13 budget.

The budget is proposed at $29.6 million, a zero increase over the current budget that would maintain current class sizes and curricular and extracurricular programs, Graner said.

The $1 million Graner said will be cut represents the total amount of contractual salary increases scheduled for next year. The cuts will be made in both personnel and nonpersonnel accounts, Graner said - $370,000 from accounts that include textbooks, retirement benefits, attrition, energy accounts and district software, and $671,552 from the salary account.

The school district this year used a one-time $703,430 federal EduJobs grant to help pay for salaries. A tax increase of three-quarters of a mill in 2012-13 would help cover that amount next year, he said.

School board Chairwoman Sharon Hightower said Wednesday the board was "thinking strategically for the next two budget cycles" when considering what types of cuts it would have to make to the school's programs and staffing.

"We still want to maintain our program of excellence, and the board really didn't wait. We thought about a five-year plan. We had to look ahead," Hightower said.

"This is a progression over time to try to maintain stability."

The board will meet with the Town Council to discuss the 2012-13 budget at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Board of Education's Central Office.

j.hanckel@theday.com