After announcing yesterday that the Leander Independent School District should consider eliminating 250 positions to close a projected $29 million shortfall, Leander ISD Superintendent Bret Champion will make his case to the school board tonight. The meeting is slated to begin at 6:15 p.m.
"The timing of this announcement is tied to the legal requirement to notify teachers of their employment status 45 days prior to the last day of instruction," Champion said yesterday in a webcast. "That means we need to approximate a budget by early April, even though the state won't have a budget till May, June, or early July."
Like all school districts, salaries make up the lion's share of Leander ISD's expenses, about 85 percent of the $245 million budget.
The staffing reduction would lay off 213 first year teachers, and allow employees with contracts whose positions have been eliminated to fill those first year slots.
Other budget cut measures proposed by Champion include the following:
- Add two furlough days to the next year (which would require legislative change)
- Increase average student teacher ratios to 21:1 at elementary schools
- Increase student teacher ratios to 20:1 at high schools
- Reduction of stipends given to high school and middle school teachers ($2.3 million each)
- Reduce fine arts and athletics staffing
- Eliminate library assistant positions
You can read the full schedule of proposed reductions on Leander ISD's website.
