No Employees Will Be Fired in NHP-GCP School District Because of Budget Cuts

was applauded last night when he told board of education meeting attendees at the that no employees were going to be fired as a result of budget cuts.

"I must begin by stating that this was probably the most difficult budget we had to prepare in the history of the district," Katulak said during his superintendent report. "This budget miraculously delivers a 2.97 percent budget-to-budget increase, the lowest in the past seven years. It also delivers a staffing budget that not one employee loses a job. We were able to maintain all programs except for the outdoor education experience for fifth and sixth grade students which will now be supplemented with in-district Project Adventure activities."

Katulak added that staff will be redeployed into other positions rather than fired and that all of the arts programs have been maintained. The Odyssey, physical education and full-day kindergarten programs were also kept in the budget. Some of these programs, including Odyssey and strings, among others, were considered to be by to the Parent Teacher Association.

The 2011-2012 proposed budget now stands at $33,527,125, up from $32,560,270 the previous year. The 2.97 percent budget-to-budget increase is in spite of a 15.51 percent increase in employee benefits. This is because the employee retirement system is being completely funded from the district's reserves, .

The contingency budget, which could be adopted if the budget doesn't pass initially, is about $40 less than the proposed budget.