What School Superintendents Are Doing To Meet Budget Cuts

The American Association of School Administrators has release a study of the top things School Superintendents are doing to meet the current school financial crisis. Those are:

When superintendents were asked to identify what actions their districts have already implemented as a result of the economic downturn, the top responses were:

• Altering thermostats (62 percent)
• Eliminating non-essential travel (57 percent)
• Reducing staff-level hiring (48 percent)
• Reducing consumable supplies (48 percent)
• Increasing class size (36 percent)
• Deferring maintenance (36 percent)
• Reducing instructional material (35 percent)

The top actions superintendents have considered but not yet implemented as a result of the economic downturn are:

• Freezing outside professional service contacts (30 percent)
• Laying off personnel (30 percent)
• Eliminating outside staff development consultants (30 percent)
• Eliminating field trips (35 percent)
• Cutting non-academic programs (such as afterschool and Saturday enrichment programs) (26 percent)

When superintendents were asked about the economic-related problems of the families of students in their districts:

• Ninety-five percent said unemployment has worsened somewhat or a great deal.
• Ninety-four percent said lack of health insurance has worsened somewhat or a great deal.
• Ninety-one percent said student mobility has increased somewhat or a great deal.
• Eighty-eight percent said mortgage foreclosures have worsened somewhat or a great deal.
• Seventy percent said homelessness has worsened somewhat or a great deal.

You can read the full report here.