Eau Claire School District Welcomes Suggestions To Help Balance Its Budget

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Posted: 6:29 PM Nov 19, 2008
Last Updated: 11:13 PM Nov 19, 2008
Reporter: Amelia Cerling
Email Address: Amelia.Cerling@weau.com

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You've heard it before, but the budget cuts the Eau Claire School District has to make are going to have to be big.

A budget reduction list has been created by the district and it's accepting input from the community.

The Eau Claire School District is trying to cover a 5.1 million dollar shortfall and it's looking to anyone for help.

Some of the most notable suggestions were closing Northstar Middle School and combining both the Memorial and North High School sports teams.

Ron Heilmann, the Eau Claire School District Superintendent says right now all these ideas are in the discussion stage. He says, “Well it's an idea, what people need to understand are all ideas are being pursued.”

However Heilmann says there are several disadvantages to closing Northstar. He says while Northstar has the lowest enrollment of the three middle schools, it's also by far the newest school and the most energy efficient.

Northstar's Principal Michelle Golden says she realizes a Northstar closure is just an idea, and admits the district has to start somewhere. She says, “There's a lot of things on that list that are scary, and how we are going to operate on that deficit is a reality, so we need to face those tough choices.”

Golden also says cutting more from the budget hurts because it feels like it's already been pinched as far as it can go. She says, “We've been cutting so much over the years, it’s almost impossible to not hurt the kids in some way shape or form.”

And that's exactly what Heilmann says he doesn't want to happen. He says personnel cuts will likely happen throughout the district as 80 percent of the district's budget is used to pay salaries.
He says, “The fact of the matter is we need to be having these discussions with our community right now, because I don't want anybody to be surprised.”

Some of the other ideas for saving money include increasing fees for extra curricular activities, leasing roof space for cell phone towers, and even selling the naming rights to school facilities.

Heilmann says there's still a lot to discuss, and he welcomes community input on the districts website.

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Posted by: elle Location: Eau Claire on Nov 20, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Really combining the middle schools isn't such a bad thing. We only have two highschools and that works so why not. It should maybe be Delong that actually closes. The North kids can go to North Star and the Memorial to South Being Delong is the older school. The way Delong is laid out you could actually have that turn into a bigger elementary school. It would cut down on cost to run so many elementary schools. So they have bigger classrooms but we can get more teachers aid help so our students have more one on one time with a teacher or a teachers aid. It really could work. My kids went to a bigger elementary school before moving to Eau Claire and it seems they got more attention and more services that they needed. The teachers here need more supportive help anyway.

Posted by: Scot Location: Eau Claire on Nov 20, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Interesting concept of paying a teacher based on the what the child learns. This is not working on a assembly line. You forget about the handicapped (in all forms including dysfunctional families) children mainstreamed into the regular classroom. Teachers are not brain surgeons. The classroom should not be used as a day care. Some parents need to be held accountable for the lack luster performance of the child. Pay a teacher based on test scores is ridiculous. As a society we ALL need to put education first. Some people need to show up at a school board meeting or at least do some research before running off at the mouth.

Posted by: Mark Location: menomonie on Nov 20, 2008 at 07:59 AM
Why dont we just teach all students ONLINE..it would save the poor taxpayers from building new schools,paying for lunches,buses,maintenance and would get the outrageous expense off the backs of people who dont even have children!!

Posted by: Scott W Location: Eau Claire on Nov 20, 2008 at 01:12 AM
Ken I agree with you on all of it except this: I am not saying we just cut teachers pay across the board, I am saying that if you are a horrible teacher, you get paid less or fired, period, no matter how long you have been there. If you are a great teacher, you get paid more. Period. As it stands now, teachers a guaranteed a certain minimum pay rate, way above minimum wage. ( I have no idea what that is exactly but know it is way higher than Wal-Mart ) I think all new teachers should start out fairly low, (no, I do not know an exact number) and earn their way to higher pay, if they slack, their pay drops. I mean for God's sake, they are teaching our own children here. Regular Joe's get rewarded with more pay for doing a better job and start out at the bottom, why not teachers?

Posted by: Mike Location: Eau Claire on Nov 19, 2008 at 11:51 PM
Ken, you need to get a life and I'm glad you did not get hired as the new superintendent. Yeah, let's put some fifth graders in the kitchen cooking meals for the first and second graders. And I wonder how those first graders are going to do while staying at the school until 8 p.m. mopping hallways, sweeping out classrooms and cleaning up puke in the hallways. And just so we don't forget after we cut all the custodians and let public organizations rent space on the weekends that the whole third grade class is going to have to come in on Sunday to clean up the mess, put away the tables and chairs. Or wait, maybe we can just have those public organizations clean up after themselves!

Posted by: Ken Location: Gilman on Nov 19, 2008 at 10:51 PM
I don't think the teachers compensation is a wise place to cut from. That would only leave them looking for other ways to make ends meet (such as part-time jobs on the side) and take some of their focus off of the children. I believe that making a "service requirement" for the students would be one idea. Have a requirement that all students must do some of the labor to support the school (things like cleaning or cooking meals, for example) and that maintenance and kitchen staffs could all be significantly reduced. This would give students a real world application for the skills they are learning and also an understanding of what labor is in the real world. Another idea would be to sell surplus assets the district no longer needs - everything from surplus or outdated athletic equipment and computers to tools and furniture. Lawn maintenance should be minimized. The school buildings should be more easy for public organizations to rent and use during non-school hours. Think!!!!

Posted by: Scott W Location: Eau Claire on Nov 19, 2008 at 08:03 PM
Maybe we should start looking at the Teacher's Unions. Do these teachers get paid based on performance or on a contract that says they get paid X amount no matter what?