School board members got their first public look at Hamilton County Schools’ 2011 budget and its $8.6 million projected deficit on Thursday, less than one month before they must vote on the final document.
The $310 million proposed general purpose budget, presented by Chief Financial Officer Tommy Kranz, includes eliminating a total of 41 school-based positions for a savings of $2.7 million.
Because Hamilton County usually has several hundred people retire every year, Mr. Kranz said it would be unlikely that any teacher whose position was eliminated would actually lose their job.
In the proposed budget, the system would save an additional $750,000 from cuts to the central office, but Mr. Kranz did not specify the number of eliminated positions.
The board’s one-month turnaround to approve the budget is different from last year, when board members invited a citizens advisory committee to publicly brainstorm ways to trim the budget starting shortly after a November school board retreat.