PERU — In an effort to reduce its operating costs by nearly $1 million, Peru Central School District is considering several options, including relocating its sixth grade.
Also on the district's preliminary list of cost-saving measures are the elimination of 15.6 full-time employee positions and a reduction in the number of select class sections at all grade levels.
In many cases, work hours would be reduced instead of the job being eliminated completely.
$200,000 SAVINGS
At the district's budget meeting Tuesday night, Interim Superintendent A. Paul Scott said that moving sixth grade from the Middle School to the Intermediate School could potentially save the district $200,000 a year.
This savings would be realized by the reduction of one assistant-principal position through attrition, 1.4 instructional support positions and one clerical support position.
Grade six was originally an elementary-school program at Peru, but in 2001, under Scott's recommendation, it transitioned into the Middle School.
STUDENT IMPACT
More than any other item on the list of potential cost reductions, the relocation of sixth grade back to the elementary level was met with opposition by teachers and parents gathered at the workshop.
"Let's call this what it is," said Elizabeth Dubay, a sixth-grade math teacher at Peru.
"It's projected cost savings, not what's best for student achievement and growth."
She told the School Board that sixth-grade students are flourishing at the Middle School, increasing their state test scores in math upwards of 20 percent each year and receiving the nurturing they need to make a smooth transition into seventh grade.
In addition, Dubay said, the Intermediate School is not an appropriate place for middle-school-age students.
"I have major concerns about the Intermediate School. I don't think it was designed 70 years ago to fit 28 sixth-graders in one room."
LOST ADVANTAGES
Christine Wood, who teaches sixth-grade science and social studies at Peru, told the board of the numerous opportunities her students take advantage of at the Middle School, including Student Council, accelerated math and foreign-language classes and 10th period, which many students use to get extra help in classes.
"These are advantages that our students would lose in the move," Wood said.
'BAD POSITION'
Peru School Board President Rod Driscoll agreed that the move would not be ideal but said that, given the current economic climate, cost reductions are unavoidable.
"We're not going to pretend that what we're doing is optimal," he told the crowd. "We're in a bad position."
Scott explained that with an increase in general operating aid from the state of just 1.55 percent and hikes in employee salaries, health insurance, Retirement System contributions and other areas of expenditure, the district faces a nearly $3.1 million budget deficit for next year.
And though it plans to use roughly $2 million in reserve funds to bridge the gap, the remaining $1 million must come from cost reductions.
BEST CHOICE
Those reductions are made more difficult, Scott said, because the board has already been reducing costs for the past several years.
"The fact is, I can't come up with a better alternative to reduce $200,000 annually (than relocating sixth grade)," Scott said, "because every time I came up with an alternative, students lost worse. This list hurts kids less than any other list I could come up with."
Still, the board agreed to form a stakeholder committee to look more closely at the ramifications of moving sixth grade to the Intermediate School, as board members agreed a decision of such weight could not be made without more information.
Scott also encouraged community members to share with the board any ideas they may have on how to best cut costs from next year's budget.
"If there are better alternatives, you'll have my full support," he said. "There's no ego here."
Email Ashleigh Livingston at: alivingston@pressrepublican.com
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