Tommy Kranz

It’s deja vu all over again for school board members and Hamilton County Schools’ officials as they face a budget that could force school closures and layoffs as early as next year.

This time they’re about $20.2 million in the hole, nearly $8 million more than last year.

“It’s a really difficult challenge we have ahead of us,” said Superintendent Jim Scales. “This is the most challenging budget I’ve seen in 40 years.”

Chief Financial Officer Tommy Kranz laid out several options to make up the difference, emphasizing that all budget decisions ultimately are up to the nine board members:

n School consolidation ($6 million savings): After consultants completed a districtwide report on school capacity, Mr. Kranz said Hamilton County could close 11 underutilized schools. About 80 percent of schools in Hamilton County do not pay for themselves because there are too few students. Schools receive state funding based partly on their enrollment.

n Fewer teachers ($12.5 million savings): If the school system were to eliminate about 220 teaching positions and increase the pupil-teacher ratio from 15.81-to-1 to 19-to-1, the system could save about $12.5 million.

n Employee health insurance ($5.1 million savings): Though health insurance changes would be subject to negotiation with the Hamilton County Education Association, Mr. Kranz said he calculated the cost savings of employees bearing a greater burden for their own insurance at $3.5 million. That money could be added to the estimated $1.6 million cost savings of creating district-run medical clinics and increasing some co-payments.

n Central office ($2 million savings): Streamlining central office operations and eliminating positions.

School officials are meeting this week with school board members individually to talk about closings, one of the more contentious possibilities. Based on whether the board “agrees philosophically” with the idea of closing small schools, Mr. Kranz said any of the other budget-balancing possibilities could change.

Chester Bankston, school board vice chairman, said he was not in favor of closing any schools in his district, although two schools he represents — Birchwood and Harrison elementary schools — are potentially slated to close.

After meeting with Mr. Kranz and Dr. Scales Tuesday morning, Mr. Bankston said he learned other potential school closures could take place at Hillcrest, Lakeside, Woodmore and Lookout Mountain elementary schools, as well as Orchard Knob Middle School. There could be several phases of school closings, Mr. Bankston said, with about five or six potentially closing by next school year.

Any action must take place quickly, he said.

School board Chairman Kenny Smith said he wanted to see cuts made from the system’s central office long before teachers are dropped or schools closed.

“We’ve got to start and cut from the top down ... we made a commitment to put 90 percent of our resources in our classroom and teachers are the biggest element of our classroom,” he said. “I’ve got an open mind, but this is not something we’re going to vote on quickly or take lightly.”