The most concerning cuts to those who came to the meeting were those to the high school athletic department.
ESCANABA -- There are some major cuts coming to the Escanaba School District. Monday night, the school board voted to cut over $439,000 to reduce the deficit caused by state funding cuts.
With $165 less per student with state budget cuts, officials say a $439,000 cut had to be made.
From supply cuts, reduction in hours for support personnel and custodial staff, pay freezes, to elimination of the Athletics/Activities Secretary, a lot of cuts were made Monday night. However, the most concerning cuts to those who came to the meeting were those to the athletic department.
High school Boys Tennis, Middle School Track and High School Girls Gymnastics were cut. For some, cutting a sport while it's just getting started isn't fair, since most have missed an opportunity to try out for another sport.
"If I would have known gymnastics was going to be cut, I would have tried out for competitive cheer," explained gymnast, Lyndsey LaMarche.
"It's not fair to the 24 young ladies to not be part of anything at all," said Gymnastics Coach, Theresa Pascoe. "They do not want to see it end this year. I don't want to see it end this year."
But Athletics wasn't the only department to see cuts. Instructional Resources and Support saw a $131,000 cut; there was a $127,217 Administrative cut; Extra-Curriculars saw a $77,087 cut; and Facilities and Transportation had a $56,700 cut. And there was a $47,586 cut to eliminate 5 days of school for students by adding around 16 minutes to each school day.
In addition to all these cuts, the board also voted to reconfigure the schools next year--closing Franklin Elementary and moving those kids to the other elementary schools in the district and building a "school within a school" concept at the high school.
That, officials say, saves the district over $300,000 which they feel helps them to prepare for more anticipated cuts from the state.
"It's going to be a two-year phase in," explained Superintendent Michele Burley. "Eventually you'll see 7 to 9 up at the High School campus, so they would be in a segregated wing. At the current middle school, we'd eventually be an upper elementary building, grades 4, 5 and 6, then K-3 for the remaining 3 elementaries."
Officials say these cuts were tough to make, and they will reevaluate them for next school year. But for this school year, the cuts voted on Monday night will more than likely take affect by Christmas.
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