Skyline Superintendent Mike Sanders “has requested that the State Finance Council consider providing $118,000 from the Extraordinary Needs Fund to help cover that amount that was taken out of the current school budget from the Local Option Budget and Capital Outlay state aid.
“Without this $118,000, USD 438 employees will not receive a June paycheck…The district has no way to generate funds to cover the loss because the mil levy was locked in at the August budget hearing. The LOB has also maxed out at 33 percent for the current school year. The district has also been operating without a contingency reserve since July1, 2013.
“This makes matters worse when equipment fails and that is just what happened. Besides the funding cut, the district had to spend an unexpected $92,700 to replace the HVAC system that failed. So getting the extra funds is vital to the district.
“In another step to reduce expenses, the Board approved a change in class schedule setup. Effective for the 2015-2016 school year, Skyline will adopt a seven-hour daily schedule and drop the block schedule at the high school.
“This move is strictly savings driven and done specifically to reduce expenses, Sanders said.
“The new schedule will have shorter hours and allow the district to share staff between the high school and the middle school. This will also mean a reduction in staff, Sanders said.”
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