Oklahoma City Public Schools Brace for Budget Crisis

The state's largest school district is bracing for a potential classroom crisis.

Thursday, November 5th 2009, 9:38 pm

By: News 9


By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The state's largest school district is bracing for a potential classroom crisis.

Revenue shortfalls are forcing Oklahoma City Public Schools to trim its budget anywhere from $5 million to $10 million.

Superintendent Karl Springer said the district is in good financial shape right now, but he's preparing for the worse.

"We're trying to position ourselves so that we don't have deeper cuts next year," Springer said.

On Wednesday principals from across the district met with the superintendent and Scott Randall, the district's chief financial officer, to brainstorm ways to cut back without impacting students or personnel.

"Our goal here is to make sure if we do have a financial issue where money is a problem, it doesn't affect the classroom," Springer said. "I've been a superintendent for ten years now, and I've never had to lay off an employee because of the budget."

Some of the ideas mentioned included a hiring freeze for all non-teaching positions. Springer said he'd like to look at ways to save money on utilities, maintenance, substitutes and purchases.

"We may also look at selling some properties," Springer said.

The superintendent said he plans to present these ideas to the school board at its November 16th meeting.

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