At the March 16 Albert Lea school board meeting, your school board approved recommendations by district administrators to reduce expenditures for 2009-2010 by $698,000. About $548,000 of the reduction will be accomplished by reducing our staffing levels.

At an earlier meeting the board had directed administrators to seek budget reductions because it appears that the state will likely not provide any increase to the general fund, let alone a cost of living increase.

I can hear what you are all thinking: “But we just passed a big referendum! Why do they have to cut our educational programs?”

The referendum was passed with the assumption that the district would receive a 2 percent increase from the state each year. Given the current financial condition of our state and our nation, we must anticipate that we will not receive any increase from the state and the Legislature may in fact end with a funding decrease. We just won’t know very soon.

There is hope that the federal stimulus plan will help schools, but the politics of that process may not yield the help to our general fund that is needed. At this point we cannot count on either state or federal government for funding increases. So we had to come up with a worst-case scenario deficit reduction plan.

We have been through many budget reductions over the past several years. However, what makes this particular budget reduction especially troubling is the fact that as we lay off staff, we know it will be very hard for these good people to find new employment because so many other school districts are also reducing their staffing levels.

Our school district is a people business so the largest cost saving area comes from salaries. We know there has been talk in various communities and among various employee groups about a salary schedule freeze, and some may have mentioned it locally, but this concept can only happen within the negotiations process of each of our bargaining units and we want to respect that process.

Our building principals and other district administrators are showing leadership in this area. They have already agreed to a salary freeze for 2009-2010 and have volunteered to cut their training expenses this year and next year as well. The school board is very appreciative of their effort to reduce projected expenditures that may allow us to keep more student programs and staff in place for the next school year.

The school board is also appreciative that discussions with teacher leaders have led to an approval to divert some of our staff development funding to the general fund for one year. Staff development is so important to our staff as they continually seek to improve their instructional skills, so reducing funding in this area is truly a difficult decision.

However, assuming that the board will also agree to divert these funds, about $94,000 can be used to reduce the number of teachers that would be presently laid off. The board feels it is important to the students of Albert Lea Area Schools to maintain as many high quality staff as possible, which keeps our class sizes low, and we know parents appreciate this too.

We know these are very challenging times for all our parents and members of the community. But we know we can get through these times, just as our state and nation will. Our challenge is to be as supportive of each other as we can be during these times, while maintaining our focus on our students and their need to increase academic skills.

Sally Ehrhardt is a member of the Albert Lea school board.