Burlington, IA – Burlington Superintendent Lee Morrison says the district is facing a roughly $2.7-million budget shortfall. His plan to close the shortfall includes a tax hike, program reductions, and staff cuts.
Morrison says the district will seek an additional $1-million through its property tax levy. He says vacancies will go unfilled, new textbooks will not be ordered, and traveling/training budgets will be cut.
The plan also calls for employee lay-offs.
Morrison has presented a termination list with about a dozen names to the Burlington School Board. He says the final number of lay-offs will depend on how contract negotiations go with several employee unions.
Morrison hopes the lay-offs can be reduced to five.
The names on the termination list will not be made public until the Burlington School Board acts on the recommendations. Morrison says that could take place during the panel's June meeting.
The teachers involved have an opportunity to appeal.
Some of the cost-cutting proposals that did not come before the Burlington School Board include shuttering Corse Elementary, closing the Burlington High School pool, and eliminating the district's orchestra program.