School Board may approve budget Thurs.

The Del Norte County Unified School District Board may approve a 2012–2013 budget for local schools when it meets Thursday.

Board members will consider the school district budget, the County Office of Education budget and charter schools’ budgets on Thursday.

The proposed district budget is balanced with the use of money reserves the district has been holding onto for years, such as $2.7 million from the Secure Rural Schools Act for timber counties.

The proposed budget for next school year doesn’t include drastic cuts because the state has yet to issue any. Gov. Jerry Brown has said he won’t propose cutting K-12 education in hopes that his initiative to increase taxes passes in November.

District officials said a contingency plan is being crafted in case the tax measure doesn’t pass and there are mid-year cuts of $1.45 million.

If this happens, districts throughout California will be able to reduce their schools year by 15 days to save money.

Some ideas for cuts later this school year and next school year (if needed) include:

• Furlough days: Five to 10  this coming school year and up to the next year

• Eliminating the school resource officer

• Increasing class sizes

• Eliminating in-house suspension at Crescent Elk Middle School.

• Deferring pay raises for employees

• Eliminating some sports or teams.

• Lowering graduation requirements

• Cutting music and PE.

• Reducing staff size

Reach Kelley Atherton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it