Ogilvie school board begins detailed budget-reduction planning, including possible position eliminations

Ogilvie Public School District Superintendent Kathy Belsheim on Monday presented a preliminary set of budget-reduction options for fiscal year 2024–25 and asked the board to be prepared to take action at its March 25 meeting.

Belsheim said the administration is still developing department-level savings and revenue proposals but outlined options that include eliminating newly created positions, reconfiguring some grade-level staffing, reducing certain support staff and evaluating bus routes. "We have to be very efficient with the dollars that are coming into the district," Belsheim said, noting some positions added last year would be the first considered for removal.

Board members pressed for details about how reductions would affect instruction and services. One member asked whether cutting a special‑education position would meaningfully reduce pressure on the general fund; administrators replied that special‑education funding flows into the general fund and that while newly increased state aid narrows the gap, districts still cross‑subsidize about 45% of special‑education costs from local funds. Administrator Ryan, who reviewed caseload averages, said class-size and schedule reconfiguration could keep core instruction staffing intact while reducing certain positions.

The administration emphasized statutory deadlines tied to teacher notifications: tenured teachers planning to leave must inform the district by April 1, while probationary notices follow July timelines depending on contract settlement. Belsheim told the board the budget itemization is complex ("1,400 lines, 39 pages") and that administration and department heads will supply clearer line‑item revenue and expense figures after a district‑operations meeting.

The board scheduled a follow‑up meeting to review department audits and more detailed figures: members agreed to meet Monday the 20th at 4:30 p.m. to consider the next steps before any formal vote at the March 25 meeting. The discussion was explicitly framed as preliminary; no reductions were approved at the session.