Hutto ISD plans to cut budget by $1.2 million at April 10 meeting

Photo by Samantha Bryant

After identifying about $1.2 million in potential cuts to the 2012–13 budget at a March 29 workshop, the Hutto ISD board of trustees said they plan to take action on cuts and revenue measures at the April 10 regular board meeting.

The board identified $728,356 in permanent cuts for the next school year—such as reducing campus and department budgets by 10 percent and eliminating standby ambulance services at football games.

They also chose $522,500 in items that they plan to cut now but could be restored to the budget if voters were to approve a proposed tax ratification election, or TRE, later in the year to raise the tax rate by 13 cents per $100 of property valuation. Some of those items included restructuring the library program to have less librarians and more librarian aides, eliminating a hall monitor position at the high school and cutting transportation funding for the Legacy program.

Hutto ISD already slashed its 2011–12 budget by $4.5 million to prepare for a reduction in state funding, and board members said they were worried about the level of service that the district will deliver if all $1.2 million in cuts are made to next year's budget.

"It's slow death," Superintendent Doug Killian said. "We're nipping here and there, and quality is going down."

Also if the TRE fails, the district also plans to implement a flat, $100 extra-curricular/co-curricular fee with a $200 limit per family. Right now the regular fee is $25 per student, $12.50 for students in the reduced lunch program and $2.50 for those who qualify for free lunches. The fee increase is estimated to generate about $150,000 in revenue and would be used to offset staff stipend costs.

Final decisions are slated to be made at the April 10 meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at the Hutto ISD Administration Building Board Room, 200 College St.