Jefferson Schools attack budget crisis publicly
Nearly 1,000 parents attended a meeting at Midway Middle School.
Fiscal year 2014 is shaping up to be a rocky road for the district. Without a levy, the district will begin the year with a $500,000 deficit.
Tuesday night’s meeting was essentially a straw poll to gauge which one of 3 basic scenarios district patrons prefer in tackling the budget crisis.
Scenario “A” would mean no levy; which means the district would need to make $500,000 in cuts affecting everything from athletics to library staff by tens of thousands of dollars.
Scenario “B” would call for a $500,000 levy election in May; reducing the deficit to only $54,000.
Scenario “C” would put the district back in the black to the tune of $400,000.
Patrons used colored dots to show which choice they preferred. Mother Brittany Buxton voted for no levy.
“Something has to be cut,” said Buxton. “The problem has happened so now it’s time to fix it.”
The district will take into account the straw poll from Tuesday night when considering how to move forward.
District employees were also able to cast their colored dot votes at the meeting.
