KAUKAUNA — Schools Supt. Lloyd McCabe says his district has no choice but to consider laying off more than 10 percent of its teachers

I expect to see more of these stories in the next few years:

KAUKAUNA — Schools Supt. Lloyd McCabe says his district has no choice but to consider laying off more than 10 percent of its teachers to deal with ongoing budget challenges. The proposal, to offset a $2.7 million deficit the district could face next school year, goes to the Board of Education on Monday for review. At least 27 teachers could be laid off. "It's not easy," McCabe said Thursday, echoing a downbeat sentiment of the tough economic times facing school districts. Layoff announcements were being made to teachers that same day.

Eliminating teachers could increase class sizes by two students. Under the district's guidelines, kindergarten and first-grade classes should have no more than 20 students and high school classes no more than 28. Administrators have been saying for the past three years they have exhausted areas to cut, but the layoff proposal is the least disruptive to students, McCabe said.
Last January, board leaders closed Nicolet Elementary School, sold the building housing the district's administrative offices, cut staff and reorganized the other schools to avoid sizable layoffs that would have led to larger class sizes.

Kaukauna, which operates on a $52.1 million budget this year, bases its next budget on receiving $100 per student in state aid, not $284, given the state's projected $5.4 billion deficit. This comes as the district also grapples with a number of maintenance jobs it can no longer afford to delay. Financial officer Bob Schafer said he will seek proposals for nine different projects in the spring. The board has set aside nearly $1 million for the work, which includes replacing sections of roofs at three schools, fixing all of the parking lots, moving athletic facilities at the high school and installing a sound system at River View School. "Every one of those (projects) is because there is a safety aspect," Schafer said. How much work gets done will depend on how far Schafer can stretch the dollars.

McCabe is hoping state lawmakers will tackle the school funding issue to relieve pressure on districts. "I think that there's pretty good agreement that state funding has to be revised and the problem that the state has is that they don't have the money to do anything about it," he said. "Wisconsin schools cannot continue to produce students who rank at the very top of the nation with the funding structure that exists today."

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20090109/APC0101/901090533/1979?source=nletter-news