Time to Heal, Move Forward After Charles City School Board Approves Staff Reductions

Staff reductions will be made in the Charles City School District for the 2023-24 school year after they were approved Monday night by the School Board.

Faced with a budget shortfall of over $600,000 in state funding next school year due to an enrollment decline this year, the School Board considered multiple scenarios to save the district about $750,000 in total expenses.

By a 3-2 vote, seven staff positions will be eliminated including a Project Rise coordinator, a business teacher and one music teacher.

Board members Pat Rottinghaus, Dr. David Schrodt and Kathryn Fox all voted for the staff reductions. Fox told the audience of about 75 people attending the Board meeting, at the Youth Enrichment on the Floyd County Fairgrounds, that after also weighing the possibility of raising property taxes to offset expenditures, “There is no win here.”

Superintendent Dr. Anne Lundquist also hopes for healing in the wake of the cost cutting decisions, which come after a difficult, arduous, lengthy process.

Board members Josh Mack and Janiece Bergland voted no to Proposal Option B, which also includes over $150,000 in cuts in the operations department and in central services. The general consensus of the Board was that adding new property taxes to help offset costs was an option they wanted to avoid.