Easton Area Schools Could Cut 77 Jobs

The Easton Area School District could cut 77 positions in order to balance its budget. 

The job cuts are one of the possibilities district officials presented Wednesday night at the first of a series of meetings looking at the . After the presentation was made, representatives of various district employee groups said they would take a pay freeze next year*. Superintendent Susan McGinley said she will also take a pay freeze.

The positions in question include 40 teachers, 27 paraprofessionals and 10 custodians. Put together with a 2.2 percent tax increase and $1.5 million in district reserve funds, those cuts would close a $9 million gap in the budget.

The school board is considering three different scenarios: a budget with a 2.2 percent tax increase, one with a 1.7 percent tax increase and one with no tax increase. Without a tax increase, the number of job cuts could jump to around 108. 

Other possible cuts include:

• Changing full-day kindergarten to half-day.
• Killing district-funded field trips. 
• Ending indoor track and lacrosse at the high school, and having students pay fees for physicals. 

This is the third year in a row that the district has considered cutting positions to balance the budget. In 2010, 72 teachers lost their jobs. , the district looked at cutting 160 jobs to balance the budget, but ultimately came to an agreement with the teachers union.

*An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the district's teachers would take a pay freeze.