School Beat: Finance: Mr. Hatfield seeks basis for deciding on budget cuts; How to evaluate programs fairly and evenly--the unfunded mandates etc.

At the Finance Committee Meeting of the Evansville School Board last week, there was a wide ranging discussion of the gradual tightening of the budget and the difficulty in having a framework to decide when reviewing the different needs such as ELL, Special Ed, At Risk, AP, GT and yes Athletics, how to decide the order in which things will be cut or funding added in the case of rising enrollment.

This was a very timely discussion. Yes, the enrollment in the district was up 100 students. Good news for revenue. However, just a glance at the enrollment increases shows that there are 48 at risk students at the high school. There are some needs created by the mix of the enrollment increase that the school is evaluating as we write.

You may recall that some of the "at risk" services were cut back after Mrs. Dobbs retired. Supr. Carvin reviewed this and noted that Mrs. Dobbs had been very persistent in getting these kids to graduate and that her absence had been felt. Some additional staffing was needed for the at risk students since 48 was too large for just a 1/2 person to teach at the High School.

This discussion is just the opening chapter in what may be a lengthy series of discussions at School Board meetings in the upcoming year as the public weighs in on this topic and offers their view of what is important to them.

The Observer hopes to bring you the audio so you can listen in.