Friday, February 27, 2009

An emergency meeting was held in Newton Friday as the school district tries to decide how to handle budget problems. Newton schools cancelled classes this morning so that all 600 staff could come together and brainstorm.

Projected cuts in next year's budget could mean a 10% cut for schools across the state.

Newton's superintendent called the meeting hoping to get ideas from everyone, from bus drivers, to food service employees to teachers.

"It's a big concern if we were to have our budget reduced by 10% next year. It would be a $3 million reduction," said Superintendent Dr. John Morton.

The staff broke into small groups for several hours to come up with ideas. Now the district will look at all of the ideas before announcing ways it can save to make budget.