WESTMINSTER : Looming Cuts Draw School Board Crowd

Hoping to spare nurses, psychologists and an instrumental music program from budget cuts, about 225 people packed a Westminster School District meeting on Thursday to plead that the Board of Trustees find other ways to trim the budget.

Faced with plummeting state funding, the district must slash $1.6 million from its $26-million 1993-94 budget, Supt. Gail Wickstrom said. The short list of cuts includes: eliminating 18 teachers, for a savings of $801,900; reducing employee benefits by $250,000, and reducing management costs by $60,000. She also recommended cutting the sixth-grade instrumental music program to save $101,000.

Wickstrom also provided a second list of budget-reducing alternatives such as: mandatory two-day unpaid employee furloughs, for a savings of $208,000; elimination of health aides to save $155,000, and cut seven custodial positions for a savings of $230,000. Other reductions included cutting a nurse, a psychologist, a maintenance worker and a bus driver.

“My main objective tonight is to keep the budget cuts away from our children,” said Mike Ferretti, a Clegg Elementary School parent who opposed laying off any teachers.

Ferretti was one of 44 speakers who pleaded with the board to spare programs and jobs. Many parents, students and teachers wore paper badges bearing the words “Budget cuts” with a slash through them. About a fourth of the speakers asked trustees to save the district’s instrumental music program, calling it an inspiration for students and a way for them to participate fully in school.

Others called upon the board to save the school nurse and health aides, saying that some children have little other health care, and that without them, children with eyesight and hearing problems might go undiagnosed. The district also could face higher immunization costs and increased liability if a student got injured and could not receive prompt attention, they said.

Joey Van Camp, coordinating nurse for the district, said that cutting a nurse would leave only two for a student population of 8,657, of which 985 students are in special education. “Our children need someone to turn to when they are hurt,” she said.

Psychologist Debbie Gilmore said that losing one colleague would make each remaining psychologist responsible for 2,000 students, or 400 more than each of them handle now.

“It would be virtually impossible to serve students’ needs well with these numbers,” Gilmore said.

Trustee Ron Morgan called the state budget and need for cuts at the district level appalling, adding: “The solution is simple, we need more revenue. There’s not a board member here who wants to cut anything. We’re doing all we can and we need your support.”