District gets million in stimulus money

• Superintendent Mary Bowen-Eggebraaten

Superintendent Mary Bowen-Eggebraaten

Talk about it

More...

• Hudson School Board wants wage and salary freeze

Hudson school administrators learned Friday that the district will receive $1,072,000 as part of the federal stimulus package.

The money is earmarked to be used to fund special education programs. The money, which is a one-time allocation, is over and above any money already received by the district to fund special education. In the current budget, the district pays $5.5 million toward local programs. The stimulus money will offset that amount.

Superintendent Mary Bowen-Eggebraaten said that the money saved could be used to minimize or eliminate the staff layoffs now being considered by the Board of Education. The School Board has also asked district employees to consider a one-year wage and salary freeze that would eliminate the need for any staff layoffs for the upcoming school year. See related story.

“The stimulus money gives us a one-year fix. But we expect to be here again next year unless the economy improves or things that impact the budget are significantly different.”

Starting now, the superintendent said the district will be looking at ways to control staff costs. “We hope that future cuts can come primarily through attrition, including retirements and resignations.” The number of teacher and staff retirements this year is the lowest they have been in recent history.

The School Board has also asked district employees to consider a one-year wage and salary freeze that would eliminate the need for any staff layoffs for the upcoming school year. See related story.

Other districts across the state are receiving additional money through Title 1 programs, which are based on the number of students who receive free and reduced lunch. Hudson does not have enough students to qualify.

A special School Board meeting was held Tuesday night to discuss the stimulus money and the pending staff layoffs. Details were not available by press time; see www.hudsonstarobserver.com for an update and complete details in next week’s paper.

Tags: education, hudson, stimulus, money