Preliminary Cuts Approved for School Budget

With more than $500,000 in cuts needed to balance next year’s school budget, the North Kingstown School Committee made its first series of slashes – including cuts to staffing, maintenance, equipment and more.

According to School Superintendent Phil Auger,. Additionally, NK will take on an additional 47 students through the expansion of the Crossroads housing complex – though the funding for these students will not arrive until the following academic year.

Auger, assuming a four percent increase in funding from the town side, projects that the schools will need to find $500,000 in cuts to break even. On Tuesday, he presented the school committee with several items to be cut.

The committee approved to nix two full-time employees for a savings of $124,000. This brings the total of staffing cuts to five, as Auger’s preliminary budget called for the termination of three full-time elementary school positions.

The committee also voted to move non-union employee vacation payout. These employees will now receive that money upon retirement, saving the district $70,000 this year. Additionally, cuts were made to the district’s equipment budget ($65,000), maintenance-related items ($75,000), supplies ($28,000), information technology ($15,000) and others. The committee did vote to add in an extra $100,000 to the career and vocational tech tuitions with Chariho schools due to an increase in interest in those programs.

The district will also pay less for health care than previously anticipated, saving $125,000.

Only one of Auger’s cuts was not approved by the committee. At the suggestion of Larry Ceresi, the committee held off on eliminating one bus from the district’s transportation budget, which would have saved $70,000. According to Auger, the reduction would not have impacted start times for next year.