Lincoln looks at approximately $6 million in cuts

By Christine Laughren
Nov. 10, 2009    ·    1:58 p.m.

The Lincoln Board of Education is looking at reductions of approximately $6 million in an effort to remain fiscally sound in the wake of state reductions.

Sharing information from Superintendent Lynn Cleary, who was absent from Monday evening’s board meeting, School Board President Kimberly Samuelson reported the district only needs about $3 million in reductions over the next year. However, she said $5 - $6 million in cuts would likely be proposed to give the district some “flexibility” and choice in what to cut.

“Of course it will be based on priority and it will be a collaborative effort,” Samuelson said of the cuts. “But there is nothing sacred at this point; everything has to be on the table.”

The state has deducted $165 per student for this year’s State Aid allocation. When creating its budget, Lincoln estimated a $95 per student cut.

Adding more stress to the district, Governor Jennifer Granholm issued an additional $127 per student foundation cut Oct. 22, which would go into effect Nov. 20 unless state legislators can find new revenue to make up the shortfall.
A proposal that would have raised taxes across the county by 2 mills and generated an estimated $30 million a year until 2013 for Washtenaw County schools was defeated in the Nov. 3 election. Fifty-seven percent of voters across the county voted against it.

“I think that the voters were very clear in their message to school districts and I think we need to honor that,” Samuelson said

The president also said the district would be as transparent as possible and wanted to make the cuts “swiftly.”

Trustee Jeremy Keeney agreed with Samuelson, adding he would like to have proposed cuts on the table to vote on by the board’s Dec. 14 meeting and make mid-year reductions to the tune of approximately $1 million.

Vice President Greg Gurka said moving forward with cuts sooner than later is key and he also said cuts in excess to what is needed is “the best course of action.”

“I would rather see cuts in excess of what we think we need because based on our history with the state government we’ll probably need more than we’re expecting,” Gurka said.

The board will be looking to the Lincoln community in the coming weeks and will give staff and community members a chance to “weigh in” according to Samuelson.

It’s grim,” Samuelson said. “But I will tell you that it’s going to be collaborative effort and we all have to work together to find the best solutions to this problem.”

In other district news:

Lincoln will be accepting applications for a vacant three-year seat on the school board.

There were three candidates competing for two seats in the Nov. 3 school board race at Lincoln.

Trustee Jennifer LaBombarbe secured her appointed seat in the election, garnering 33 percent of the vote. District parent Jennifer Czachorski secured the most votes, garnering 36 percent. Zack Conley II, a former Augusta Township trustee, was voted down, only collecting 28.5 percent of the ballots.

Jennifer Beauchamp, deputy clerk for Washtenaw County, said there were no write in candidates who filed on time for the single partial-term seat on the Lincoln School Board. She said there were 270 write-in ballots cast, but since there was no legitimate candidate there was no legitimate winner.

The district is expected to release more information, including the application deadline and process in the coming days.

Preliminary student enrollment numbers are at 4733.31, based on a blended count from February and September.

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