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As Hamilton County Schools budget vote nears, some look to central office as the place to make more cuts

Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / From left, Tuli Van Korlaar and Mabry Connor are applauded after speaking for saving bus service to magnet schools. It's one of many needs that people have cited as more important than central office staffing.
Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / From left, Tuli Van Korlaar and Mabry Connor are applauded after speaking for saving bus service to magnet schools. It's one of many needs that people have cited as more important than central office staffing. Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / From left, Tuli Van Korlaar and Mabry Connor are applauded after speaking for saving bus service to magnet schools. It's one of many needs that people have cited as more important than central office staffing.

By Shannon Coan 8 min read

As the Hamilton County Schools’ budget comes to a vote this week, one of the major areas of contention has been around the staffing at the district’s central office, with some saying it needs to be the source for additional cuts.

For at least the past month, some Hamilton County school board members have repeatedly pressed district officials to identify extensive cuts to the central office to help tackle the up to $18.5 million budget deficit. Those board members have said their goal is to prioritize school-based staff.

In response, district officials have proposed increasingly larger reductions to central office.

The first version of the district budget, which was presented in early April, cut 7% of central office staffing. The budget proposed in late April increased those cuts to 10%, eliminating roughly 45 central office positions and identifying $1.2 million in operational expenses for reduction.

On Thursday, the budget brought to the board will contain further cuts to central office to reflect the school board’s ask a week ago to preserve substitute nurses, magnet school buses, staffing at Washington Alternative School and the print shop, Superintendent Justin Robertson said. The school board is scheduled to vote on the budget that day.