By By JOANNA ARNETT / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The Brandywine Public Schools Board of Education approved the Bond Issue Resolution 6-0 during Monday evening's specially scheduled meeting.
The Board anticipates $1.4 million dollars in budget cuts. Class sizes are expected to increase and fewer teaching positions will be open. As a result, program cuts will be in effect, such as field trips, transportation, the arts and sciences, physical education, etc.
In other board news, there are a total of 7.5 teaching positions that will be eliminated for the 2003-2004 academic year: Merritt Elementary, 1.5 (1 teacher and .5 counselor), Brandywine Elementary School, 1.5 (1 teacher and .5 counselor), Brandywine Junior High, 1.5 (1 teacher and .5 specials teacher), Brandywine High School, 3 (2 teachers and 1 Special Education teacher).
The average cost of a teacher at Brandywine, including their retirement package, is $55,000. The savings from the layoffs would be "around $325,000 total," said Sweeney. He also expressed the wish that a full-time teacher aide be employed in addition to the one staff position for the night courses offered by Adult Education at Bell School. "I think that this is more of a safety issue than anything," said Sweeney. "I just don't feel comfortable with the fact that we would have only one person, the teacher, here in a room full of our adult students. The building is empty except for the adult class and I would feel much better if we had full-time teacher aide here, too."
There will be a meeting on the bond issue tonight, April 29 at Brandywine High School at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium.