Harrington schools may cut sports, staff

HARRINGTON – In a July 29 budget meeting, School Board members faced the reality of their budget projections for the next four years.

The district that serves just over 100 students in one building was considering a shortfall of $284,000 for the coming year due to declining student enrollment and increased costs.

Budget projections for the coming school year estimate 112 students will return to school, with 19 of those students having special needs. These enrollment numbers are down from last year’s enrollment of 125 students.

Projected revenues from the state, which include up to $65,000 a year for teachers, won’t cover the district’s personnel costs. In addition to having teachers “maxed out” on the state salary schedule, the cost of providing health insurance for each full time teacher averages $12,000 a year, or just under $900 a month.

When looking at short-term options to cost cutting, some items that are on the table include the elimination of sports for 2020-21, as well as cutting one teaching position and two teaching assistants. Even with those measures, the district still may not be able to “stay afloat”, according to Superintendent Wayne Massie.

“Even if we make all those cuts, it is not enough to stay afloat,” he said. “We are overstaffed for 125 kids, but we need a certain number of people to run the high school.

“In any district, around 82 percent of costs are staff because schools run on people."

Although the school board did not approve any of the potential cuts, including canceling the 2020-21 sports program, the board did approve the four-year budget.

“We have to remember that we have this year to be creative and to work up solutions moving forward,” School Board member Darren Mattozzi said.

However, the rub between high expenses and declining revenues isn’t going away.

“We don’t have they money coming in that we need, so we are going to have to have some hard conversations,” Business Manager Katie Hamersky told the board.

The Harrington School Board will meet again Aug. 26.