Now that Olympia largely has settled on its biennial budget, the Northshore School District is looking at approximately $6.4 million in expenditure reductions for the 2009-2010 school year.

In a presentation made to the school board and later posted on the Northshore Web site, district Superintendent Larry Francois said the school system also will be facing cuts in the 2010-2011 school year.

“There’s just nothing to like about them,” Francois told the Reporter in regard to the spending reductions. “Certainly, nobody feels good about them.”

At an April 14 school board of directors meeting, Francois and other system officials outlined what likely will be the general blueprint for any local cuts, according to board member Gene Hawkridge.

The plan includes the possible layoff of 18 elementary- and 12 secondary-school teachers. According to Francois, the board adopted a resolution allowing up to 10 teacher layoffs.

But Francois also quickly added the administration is close to meeting its staff reduction goals through normal attrition and transfers, moves that may make layoffs unnecessary.

Layoff decisions must be made no later than May 15.

In addition to possible teacher layoffs, another possible move that attracted a lot of attention was an administration proposal to suspend all secondary- or junior-high-school sports programs. Hawkridge said the school board instead moved to create a task force to study the idea. Francois later added that group wants to have a recommendation to make to the full school board by their regular May 12 meeting. The hope is to make those programs cost neutral to the district within two years.

Hawkridge said the board plans to pass a preliminary budget at that May 12 meeting, a budget he described as a sort of “set of directions” for school administrators. By law, the board doesn’t have to pass a finalized budget until later this summer.

According to the outline presented the board last month, the biggest budget target is general program and staff reductions, with the administration hoping to slice some $5 million in spending in that category.

In general, those reductions could affect everything from the number of class periods for secondary-school students to mentoring programs. The district’s Camp Casey could be eliminated after this school year. The cuts could affect various programs for struggling learners. And while junior-high-school students may be able to continue to take to their various athletic fields, they could end up paying more for the privilege.

According to Francois’ presentation to the school board, the administration’s budget includes increases in fees for sports, music programs and many other extra-curricular activities. Summer school fees may go up, as well.

In other areas, the administration is looking to slice the central office budget by $240,000 and reduce support services by $498,000. Revenue enhancements could total over $1.1 million, with the majority of those dollars coming from a one-time transfer of interest made off capital improvement monies, as well as dipping into Northshore’s fund balance.

Over the last few months, the district conducted an online survey asking staff, parents and interested community members to rank what issues or programs they feel are most key in keeping the district sound educationally. Controlling class sizes came out on top. In his online budget presentation, Francois said staffers tried to keep the priorities presented by the survey in mind as they planned budget reductions.

According to the district, some notable numbers from the state budget plan include slashes in so-called I-278 funding, up to $6.4 million next year.

Adopted by voters and aimed at reducing class sizes, the district said those monies will be cut from $458 per student this year to $131 per student during the coming school year and reduced further to $99 per student the year after.

Francois also talked about reductions in revenues coming from local, voter-approved levies. He said that unless there are changes made in state law, the reductions in state funding will result in reductions in local levy collections, which, in his opinion, only compounds the loss of state dollars.