A bull’s-eye was firmly affixed Thursday to administrative spending in the Lawrence school district.

The public school system’s budget committee made clear that if deep cuts must occur in 2003-2004, the central office is a prime target.

“That’s everyone’s first pot to dip into,” said Scott Morgan, a committee member and school board president.

Seventeen of the committee’s top 25 cost-cutting recommendations involve administrative spending.

“I wasn’t surprised by the way things fell out,” said Wayne Kruse, a committee member and president of the district’s teachers union, Lawrence Education Assn.

He said the district had an obligation to concentrate on protecting classrooms.

The board asked the committee for a list of $4.5 million in possible cuts.

The 20-member committee endorsed an itemized list of 125 possible reductions that totaled $6 million.

“This isn’t all going to happen,” Kruse said.

The No. 1 recommendation is to shift an obscure $134,500 copier lease out of the general fund, from which teacher salaries are paid, to a capital outlay fund. Elimination of $680,000 in teacher and paraprofessional jobs is at the other end of the spectrum.

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The list also includes such items as elimination of:

• Japanese language courses;
• numerous sports coaching positions;
• junior high school cheerleading;
• staff in nursing, counseling and libraries; and
• administrative directors of student assessments and vocational education.

Morgan said the board would consider saving an estimated $1.4 million annually by shutting down Riverside, Centennial and East Heights schools. The board already voted to close Riverside in May and earmarked the other elementary schools for closure as part of a $59 million bond plan for school construction and renovation.

If the bond fails April 1, Morgan said, the possibility of closing Centennial and East Heights would remain.

“The issue is: Do you close schools or drop programs?” he said.

He said rising operating costs and dwindling state financing might compel the board to go $2 million to $3 million into the committee’s cost-cutting list.

That list will be the focus of a board study session at 5 p.m. Monday at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive. It’s open to the public.

Nearly every item on the committee’s list originally was proposed by either elementary principals, secondary principals, special education administrations or members of the central administration.

Supt. Randy Weseman said the central administration had to be part of the district’s budget solution. He did caution against hacking too deeply into the administration of the city’s second-largest employer. The district has more than 1,700 employees.

“There’s just things that aren’t going to be done,” Weseman said.

While not included in the committee’s proposal for budget cuts, there was interest expressed among several members about the possibility of moving to a four-day school week. A calendar with fewer, but longer, school days might save the district money.

Kathy Johnson, the district’s budget director, said revamping the district’s calendar would require extensive study.