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Schools

Woodland Hills Passes First Budget Proposal, Discusses Cuts

The school board passed a preliminary budget on Wednesday night.

The Woodland Hills School Board Wednesday night passed a proposed working budget at a five to four vote at its regular meeting, calling for larger class sizes, savings on utility bills and cutting transportation costs throughout the next school year.

The final adoption of a budget for the next fiscal year takes place at the regular meeting this June. But Superintendent Walter Calinger believes the majority of the first draft passed Wednesday night will stay.  

When starting to fill the proposed , Calinger knew he needed a balanced budget with no new taxes.

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“And I did that,” he said.  

The district considered closing Fairless Elementary and Woodland Hills Junior High School, as well as eliminating the French, family and consumer science, technology and business departments. But almost all have already been restored.

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But the board said Wednesday the junior high is still on the line. The proposal would move seventh and eighth grade classes into the high school. Calinger said he is “99.9 percent certain” he can bring the junior high back into the budget.

Although the district still has a lot to consider in terms of number crunching, the board is hoping the district's deficit will be brought down to anywhere from $7.5 to $6.5 million. The state will most likely give some money back to education from

Regardless, more than 50 concerned residents, teachers and students showed up to offer suggestions.

Alex Neal, a senior at Woodland Hills High School, felt the school board was not doing enough to help the district. Possible cost saving solutions, like the idea of a four-day school week, does not sit well with the students or their busy schedules.

“Think about people staying after in athletics,” Neal said. “They go to school until 5 p.m. and go right after to the practice field or musical practice.”

He said consolidating bus services and enforcing monthly “lights off” days would help save the district money.

“Increasing class sizes and cutting departments is not the way to do it,” he said.

But whether Woodland Hills enacts a four-day school week or not, Calinger knows education in the district is going to start to look different, starting with utility savings and bigger classes.

“Why not save on electricity if you can?” Calinger said. “We should do that anyhow.”

And consolidating classes, Calinger said, will help cut down a budget that can be attributed to 81 percent staff costs.

Class sizes vary depending on grade under the new budget, but will be consistent throughout the district, including at Woodland Hills Academy. Kindergarten classes will have 25 students. First through sixth grades will have 30 students and seventh through twelfth will have 32 students in each class.  

Sizes also will depend on room capacity. Calinger said some rooms in the high school can only hold 25 students, so those classrooms will be smaller. But classes with only 10 or 15 students registered will be canceled and some classes will only be offered every other year.

Although not ideal, Calinger is confident he can deliver the same quality of education on a tighter budget.

“It is possible to lower the unit cost of education,” Calinger said. “The problem is people don’t want to change from the last five or 10 years.”

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