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Sisters schools brace for likely budget cuts
By Jim Cornelius

The projected $720 million state budget shortfall will send shock waves throughout Oregon and Sisters schools won't escape.

Sisters School District will be forced to cut another $100,000 in expenditures this year, according to Superintendent Steve Swisher, and will likely trim $300,000 more out of next year's budget.

"Nobody really knows for sure until the legislature meets and makes some decisions," Swisher said.

The Oregon Legislature is expected to meet in special session at the end of January or the beginning of February to address the shortfall.

Educators hope that school funding will be protected. Swisher believes there's a good chance that the schools will lose a budgeted 4 percent increase in funding for next year, but that the cuts might not go any deeper than that.

That level of "flat" funding is not great news for Sisters schools, but local option taxes approved by Sisters voters are saving the district from potentially crippling cuts. Local option is expected to bring in about $670,000 this year, according to Swisher.

Currently, no teacher layoffs are planned, though one position in which a teacher has taken pregnancy leave won't be filled this year, Swisher said.

The district may trim a couple of extra hours of custodial work from one employee's schedule, and budgeted funds to add hours onto positions funded by grants will likely be held back. The district will also continue to be frugal with energy and supplies, keeping costs and expenditures down as far as possible.

That trimming should reach the additional $100,000 Swisher targeted this year. The district already saved about $212,000 by leaving educational assistant positions unfilled, by not replacing a teacher who moved to Summit High School and by keeping a tight lid on expenditures.

It is not clear where the projected $300,000 cuts for next year might come from.

"It's uncertain for next year until the legislature gets done with their work," Swisher said.

The district is in the early stages of contract negotiations with its teachers; those talks are certain to be impacted by the grim financial picture.

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