The district budget cuts stand at $1.5 million out of $90 million on the proposal recommended by Superintendent Barbara Underwood. The school board will vote on this proposal on March 23.

Roger McMichael, Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs, said the cuts are necessary because “our revenue projections are less than our projected expenditures, and we have a minimum cash balance at this point.”

School board member Gregory Phillips said it’s “just basic financial good sense” to balance the district’s spending and income, but he is upset by the reasons behind this district’s decreasing income.

“We’re in the wealthiest community in the state of Indiana, and we don’t have the local power to raise our own revenue. We are totally at the mercy of politicians that work downtown Indianapolis, and it’s a crying shame,” Phillips said.

Several changes have been made to the original budget cut proposal for the better, according to Underwood. One proposition that will no longer be carried out is the elimination of the keyboarding course. Underwood said she did not have accurate information about the enrollment and possible need of new equipment when she initially decided to eliminate it; therefore, this class will still be offered here.

Part of the budget cuts calls for more middle school and high school teachers to teach six periods instead of five so schools will not have to hire more teachers while class sizes will remain the same. At the school board meeting on Feb. 23, school board secretary Tricia Hackett said although she is still uncomfortable with that, she has not been able to come up with a better solution.

“I’ve asked questions, I’ve scoured the budget, I’ve researched, … and I personally can find, besides (Underwood’s) proposal, no viable, sustainable alternative that will help reach a reduction of $1.5 million,” Hackett said. “We need to reach that $1.5 million reduction. The economy is not getting any better, and it could get worse, and the Carmel Clay School district is not immune to this effect.”

McMichael said even with the current proposal, he expects the district to lose about $1 million in 2009. “We can’t make most of these reductions until the fall of 2009,” he said.

An unknown factor may still affect the budget. “We do not know yet what will be impacted by the stimulus package, but we can make other adjustments later. If there are more reductions for 2010, it would not affect teachers,” Underwood said.

The updated budget proposal can be viewed on the district Web site.