In addition to extending the school day at Decatur’s elementary and high schools, Karass points out this other paragraph in the Superintendent’s report (under “Overview”) to the Decatur School Board for tomorrow’s meeting…

While I was not at the last meeting, I heard that there was some concern about the budget presentation. I have worked with Theresa Link and the staff and we have developed possible cuts totaling $750,000. We have been cutting now for a number of years and the choices are not good. There will always be an area that someone will not want cut. However, we think we have prioritized well. This action coupled with the fact that we expect to gather about 1 to 2 million from, believe it or not, additional revenue and this will pull our fund balance up to a respectable starting amount. This year, in April, it may become necessary to put a Reduction In Force (RIF) plan in place. Naturally, we will continue practicing conservative budgeting, such as only accounting for the receipt of a portion of state funds and taxes. In the past, this practice has served us well.