Among the budget-balancing ideas thrown out at the Janesville School Board's study session Tuesday:
-- Restructure the administration of athletics. The district now has a central athletics director, along with an athletics director at each high school. The high school athletics directors also are assistant principals. Each high school has three assistant principals. Superintendent Karen Schulte said she is considering a variety of options to restructure the administration of athletics.
-- Eliminate the elementary school track meet, saving $13,900. The administration brought it up, but no board member seemed to favor this.
-- Find space in school buildings the district owns to house one of the district's charter schools. Four of the five charter schools are located in leased buildings. Kevin Murray suggested this. It was unclear whether enough room could be found.
-- Have central-office administrators who are licensed to teach fill in for absent teachers. Each day of substitute teaching by the 21 administrators would save about $2,100.
-- Use the "fund balance," which was more than $30 million when last measured June 30, 2008. The board has a policy that reserves most of that sum for a variety of purposes. Most is kept in reserve to be used in case of emergency and to avoid short-term borrowing. The policy would allow about $241,000 to be used for one-time expenditures next year, said business director Doug Bunton.
Board member Tim Cullen suggested using for other purposes about $2 million of the fund balance tentatively set aside to pre-fund early retirement benefits.
-- Cutting the position of coordinator of the 4-year-old kindergarten program. Cullen suggested this, but no other board member voiced support. Cullen said others could absorb the duties. He pointed out that there is no kindergarten coordinator or first-grade coordinator.
JANESVILLE — The Janesville School Board needs to find about $2.25 million if it wants no increase in next year's school property tax rate.
It needs to find $1.56 million if it's willing to allow the tax rate to rise enough to cover increasing referendum debts.
Finding that kind of money might mean some new revenue sources. But it probably means cutting expenses in a $114 million budget.
Eight members of the board met Tuesday to begin discussions on how to balance the 2009-10 budget. They tossed around ideas but made no decisions.
Board President DuWayne Severson was absent.
Superintendent Karen Schulte said it would help her budget planning if the board would indicate what its tax goals are, but not all the members indicated a preference. Others were vague about what they might support.
The average house in the district has an equalized value of about $142,000, comptroller Lauri Clifton told the board. The owner of that house paid about $1,070 in school taxes this year, Clifton said.
If the board raised taxes to the maximum allowed by law, the increase would be about $77 on the average house.
"That's real money to people who don't have job," board member Tim Cullen said, alluding to the high unemployment rate.
"Raising taxes is something I don't think is understandable in this community this year," Cullen said.
Cullen said, however, that he might agree to a small tax hike to cover the cost of paying off voter-approved referendums.
The equalized tax rate would have to rise by 1.88 percent to cover the referendum debt. That would mean an extra $23 in taxes on the average house.
The administration's numbers were based on equalized value of properties in the various municipalities the district covers, but municipalities calculate taxes on assessed property values. So even if the board arrives at a zero-increase tax rate, individual tax bills could go up or down.
Schulte said she hoped any cuts would come as far away from the classroom as possible. She has developed a list of possible cuts that include eliminating administrative positions.
But board member Lori Stottler said the district's administrative costs are below the state average, and she noted that the number of teachers has grown while the student-teacher ratio has shrunk.
The administration's budget calculations are based on an increase of 3.8 percent in the combined cost of salaries and benefits. The district and teachers union will begin bargaining a new contract this spring.
Cullen asked what salary and benefits increases of 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent might mean.
That would save $595,000 at 1.8 percent and double that for 2.8 percent, Clifton said.
Cullen suggested that increasing pay and benefits by less than 3.8 percent could be offset with one-time bonuses to staff, paid out of the budget's fund balance. Bonuses would not raise the base pay but would show appreciation, Cullen said.
All the numbers discussed Tuesday were based on guesses about the state budget and other factors. Also unknown is how the federal stimulus funding might help and what next year's enrollment will be, Cullen noted.