State Superintendent Herman Aizawa outlined the proposals in a document prepared earlier this month for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The committee has asked all state agencies to find ways to reduce their 1997-99 budget requests by 8 percent because of a projected $275 million state revenue shortfall for the biennium.
"There isn't a single cut in here that wouldn't be painful," said department spokesman Greg Knudsen, who stressed that the document is only a "starting point" for discussion.
It calls for a 50 percent reduction in the $15 million annual budget of the A+ child care program, to be made up by increased user fees. The current monthly fee is $55, raised from $35 last April. Fees are lower for parents with several children in the program.
Kindergarten would no longer be held for a full day at public schools. And the teacher-to-student ratio for kindergarten through second-grade classes would increase to one teacher for every 26 students from the current ratio of one to 20.
Also proposed:
An increase in the school lunch fee from 75 cents to $1 beginning in the 1998-99 school year.
Withdrawal of the department's earlier request for 197 new teacher hires to fill vacancies due to staff turnover. Vacancies would be made up by reassigning extra K-2 teachers to other grade levels.
A $43.8 million reduction over two years in supplemental programs, with specific programs and amounts to be determined by the Board of Education. Among 61 programs that could face cutbacks or elimination are the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program, Gifted/Talented education, Junior ROTC, intermural athletics and summer school.
Elimination of three deputy district superintendent positions and one administrative assistant position in the superintendent's office.
Layoffs most likely would not be necessary because teachers would be reassigned within the department, Knudsen said."As drastic as the suggested cuts are at this point, there's every hope that they will not wind up as deep as we are looking at now," he said.
The Board of Education will go over the plan at a special meeting tonight. Also to be discussed is state librarian Bart Kane's proposal to close library branches in Aiea, Aina Haina, Liliha, Manoa and Wahiawa if the 8 percent budget reduction is imposed.
Librarians had until noon yesterday to submit responses to Kane's plan. About 30 were received and were not expected to be analyzed until today, said John Penebacker, assistant to Kane.
Aizawa, in his response to the Ways and Means Committee, said the department is being asked to contribute too much to make up for the $275 million shortfall projected by the state Council on Revenues. Eight percent of the department's general funds is $116 million over two years -- 42 percent of the total projected shortfall.The department already had to cut $41.4 million over 1995-97 because of budget restrictions, he said.
"We are hopeful that (Ways and Means), along with the governor and other key legislators who have announced that they will not cut education, will do everything it can to minimize the reductions to education," Aizawa wrote.
Gov. Ben Cayetano has disputed the Council on Revenues' projection as overly conservative. Yesterday, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said its own analysis shows a revenue shortfall of $178.3 million for the biennium, amounting to $26.9 million for the state treasury than the council projected for fiscal year 1998 and $51.4 million more for fiscal year 1999.
Regardless of which projection is used, Senate Education Committee Co-Chairman Rod Tam said the department's proposed cuts focus too heavily on programs that directly affect students and not enough on administrative positions. He said he would oppose half-day kindergarten and reductions in the A+ program.
"I don't know how Dr. Aizawa intends to make up for students' inability to go onto the first grade if he cuts out (half of) kindergarten," Tam said.
Aizawa, in his letter to the Ways and Means Committee, said the department has already cut 443 positions from the state and district offices -- 75 percent of the $41.4 million restriction for 1995-97.