The Superintendent of Rapid City Schools says his district is facing some tough budget decisions. Dr. Tim Mitchell and the Rapid City School Board are hosting a series of public meetings to take input on the possible cuts.
Dr. Mitchell isn’t proposing any school program cuts at this point.
But he is proposing staff reductions of about 100 people over the next two years. He says this would free up funding needed to sustain teacher pay. Mitchell also proposes reductions to some early retirement benefits.
He says state funding and local revenue simply isn’t enough to meet the needs and keep teacher pay competitive. He hopes the public will take part in upcoming meetings.
“These are hard decisions. These are not easy choices for me or anybody who runs an organization. But, you know when your revenues are flat, and you need to compete in a job market, and you need to have competitive salaries and benefits--you need to make some choices about what you’re going to do,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell says school administration also needs to be cut. He says cuts to all departments including administration are necessary. But he also notes that administration makes up about 5-percent of the Rapid City School District budget, and he says that’s less than the national average.
You can find a PDF file outlining Dr Mitchell's budget proposal along with links and a list of upcoming public meetings here.
