BURLINGTON — Departments across the Burlington-Edison School District are taking cuts as the district trims nearly $800,000 from its budget.
School Board members unanimously approved the district’s $37.1 million budget for 2008-09 during its meeting Monday evening. The 2007-08 budget reached nearly $35 million.
Like districts across the county, Burlington-Edison is expecting a drop in student enrollment. Public schools receive about $5,100 per student.
Finance Director Joe Stewart said he predicts roughly 3,780 students for the coming school year. The district had 4,014 students in the 2006-07 school year, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Cuts to the budget included replacing teaching positions with less-expensive classified staff, combining bus routes and cutting “C” sports teams for younger athletes.
Some of the cost increase is also due to higher fuel and energy costs.
The district also had to cover some of the state-mandated pay increases for staff. The state paid most of the pay increases based on a formula for how many teachers and other staff a school can have per student. But schools that hire more teachers and staff out of grant or levy dollars had to cover cost-of-living increases themselves.
The district also hopes to absorb higher food costs with a 25-cent hike in lunch costs, which was approved in June.
The School Board also approved the purchase of three new school buses: two full-size buses and one special-needs bus.
School Board member Dick Spink said the district needed to lock in the state’s price this year before the price goes up again next year.
“The efficiency on these new buses is great,” Spink said. “We’re going to save a ton on fuel.”
The cost of the buses is $288,800, Stewart said.
Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or .
