Residents of the Warren County R-III School District made their concerns known during a special board meeting held on Nov. 18 to determine the fate of multiple programs and positions. The board voted 6-1 to approve a plethora of budget cuts that projects to save the district $619,000.

The cuts are in response to the district having a projected fund balance of 12.8 percent — below its 15-percent mandate set by the board. Deficit spending from previous years, combined with unexpected state withholdings as a result of COVID-19, forced board members into a difficult decision-making process.

“Back in 2018-19, the idea was to give raises to try to keep staff and increase salaries with hopes that revenue would catch back up,” said Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith. “It didn’t, so we were short last year. The cuts we’d made over the last two years had us right on target, and then withholdings took us further down than we’d thought we were going to be.”

Approximately 150 people were in attendance at the meeting, with nine speakers sharing public comments. Many of those shared their discontent with the cuts impacting the agriculture program, as the vote eliminated one of the two agriculture teaching positions, along with 37.5 percent of the program curriculum.

“We’re sad to see our programs be cut,” lamented Klinginsmith. “Nobody wants that to happen. This is a sad day for everybody, and hopefully we can find a way in the future to bring some of these programs back.”

Jeff Schneider, a 1997 graduate of R-III, expressed his concern regarding the long-term impact of the cuts on both the district and community. A proponent of the failed Prop J initiative to bring a technical school to the county, Schneider stressed the importance of the agriculture, manufacturing, logistics and healthcare fields — all of which could be potentially impacted with the district’s additional cuts of the entire drafting program and 75 percent of the Project Lead the Way course offerings.

“These cuts fly in the face of all four of these aspects,” said Schneider. “I really think we’d be doing a disservice to the students of our school district with these proposed cuts. I truly do believe that once you cut these programs, you do lose them. Once they’re gone, they’re hard to bring back.”

Schneider, along with other speakers, emphasized the impact of the cuts on curriculum and proposed alternative cuts in the area of athletics and the number of administrators in the district. Among the approved cuts was the elimination of an assistant principal position at the high school.

Klinginsmith, however, says the board has focused diligently on avoiding the elimination of curriculum until now.

“We’ve worked really hard over the past few years to make cuts without impacting student programming,” said Klinginsmith, noting that $1.7 million (five percent of district’s budget) in total cuts have been made over the past two years. “That’s a pretty substantial cut and a lot of money without eliminating any academic programs. Now we’re getting to a point where we don’t have that option.”

Board members heard from both current and past students and staff, as well as members of the community. Multiple students shared personal testimonies of how the agricultural or drafting programs led them toward fulfilling career paths. 

Also expressing her concern was FFA parliamentarian Mary Schlueter, one of several dozen students in attendance. She responded to the board’s suggestion of reintroducing a tax increase  proposal on the April ballot in an effort to potentially salvage the programs.

“Personally, I don’t see how our taxpayer dollars are responsible for their financial mishaps and how that has to come back on us taxpayers,” said the WHS senior, adding that she just turned 18 and will be voting. “I don’t see how our taxes affect their misspending habits.”

The ballot proposal was raised during the commentary among board members, each of whom shared their input on the proposed cuts and encouraged community effort toward protecting programs.

Vice President Dr. Chad Smith presented a series of slides displaying the differential in local revenue going toward each R-III student, as it compares to similar districts in the area. He and fellow members challenged those in attendance to examine ways residents can preserve curriculum through their vote and by shopping local.

“I happen to agree with a lot of the public comments tonight,” said Smith. “This is not a situation that any of us want to be in — not a situation where we have sought to eliminate these programs. The fact remains that our school district is currently living beyond our means.”

Smith was among the six board members to vote in favor of the cuts, with Franci Schwartz providing the only objection. 

“My fear, by the vote we just took, is that we lost the cooperation of our community,” lamented Schwartz, whose concerns were affirmed by Schlueter. 

“I believe they just lost any support they had through our ag program and our FFA,” added Schlueter. “I believe they lost all our support unless they rescind this in December.”

It was determined during the meeting that the board will discuss the possibility of cutting middle school sports as well as explore the proposal of the ballot issue during its work session on Dec. 3.