School board cuts $800K; deficit still nearly $22M


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LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — The Lafayette Parish School Board quickly dismissed three new budget proposals by Superintendent Pat Cooper, then slowly chipped away at its looming $23.5 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

The Advertiser reports (http://bit.ly/1sK39F9 ) nearly $800,000 in expenses were cut for a host of items, including marketing, travel to conferences and workshops, hospitality, playground maintenance, tree maintenance and more.

The nearly six-hour meeting ended around 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The board still had not decided on the future of several types of classroom positions, including instructional strategists, data analysts, counselors and more. Those decisions will come at a future meeting. Board member Mark Cockerham said that because of the importance of those positions and other possible program cuts, he wanted the board to be rested before tackling those items.

Cooper and other officials opposed most of the cuts, saying they would trickle down to children if teachers are unable to receive regular training and if certain tasks aren't done, such as repairs to damaged playgrounds.

"You're going to put our kids at risk," Cooper said.

In addition, school officials argued that some of the eliminated positions were responsible for building community partnerships and raising funds.

However, some board members said the cuts were designed to save teaching slots.

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Information from: The Advertiser, http://www.theadvertiser.com

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