The Les Cheneaux Community Schools Board of Education officially rescinded the layoff notices issued to 13 employees last month at its Monday, December 15 meeting. The board, however, did not need to make the motion to rescind the layoff notices because they were issued by Superintendent Rod Goehmann, not the board. Mr. Goehmann said it was more of a formal action on the part of the board.

"I would recommend that those all be rescinded at this point in time, and those positions and all of those personnel be reinstated for the balance of the school year," he said.

Though all employees are to keep their jobs for the remainder of this school year, a second round of layoff notices may be a possibility before the beginning of the 2009/10 school year if the district's budget is not balanced.

"That is a possibility," Mr. Goehmann warned, and he suggested the best way to avoid layoffs is for the district to increase enrollment. The district expects student enrollment to decrease by 19 students next fall, because the anticipated number of children entering kindergarten will be that much less than the number of high school graduates.

Mr. Goehmann said it is too early to speculate about layoffs next fall, however.

Budget reevaluation

Since the district's budget problems were made public at the special board meeting November 24, administrators have reevaluated and now estimate a projected budget deficit of about $99,000 by August 2009, 32,000 less than previously estimated. This, Mr. Goehmann said, can be attributed to the retirement announcement of art and physical education teacher Mary Lindberg and budget adjustments.

Mrs. Lindberg's retirement announcement accounts for the majority of the adjusted budget. She submitted her resignation at the end of November and it will become effective Wednesday, December 31.

Mr. Goehmann said the district has not yet made plans to replace her.

Lisa Dunn addressed the board to outline the plan of the "Fund the Future" campaign. She said the campaign is divided into two steps, "Taking Care of Today," and "Taking Care of the Future."

The first step is to raise enough funds to balance the current budget. Progress will be tracked based on funds raised through the pledge of 400 "blocks," at $250 each, equal to $100,000.

Organizers plan to approach local organizations and groups to raise money through fundraisers tailored to fit each groups' membership. Each group will "adopt" the number of blocks equal to the dollar amount it thinks it can raise, be given basic marketing materials, and then encouraged to develop its own fundraising approach.

As each $250 block is raised, a section of a Trojan head in the school's main commons room window will be painted in to show the overall progress of the campaign. The head will be painted onto the window so passersby can see the amount of funds raised.

Current scheduled events, including indoor picnics prior to several basketball games, all-night New Year's Eve party for kids, and a Valentine's Day gala, which has been moved to February 28, are efforts to raise funds under "The 400" plan.

The second part of the campaign entails keeping the district's budget balanced by increasing student enrollment and forming a political action committee to try to influence school funding legislation at the state level.

"Everybody realizes that putting a Band-Aid on our situation right now isn't going to help us in the longterm." Ms. Dunn said. "The long-term solution lies in Lansing."