Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1989 Page: 1 of 51
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20 PAGES IN 2 SECTIONS
THURSDAY
EDITION
Vol. 24 No. 50
March 30, 1989
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Cutbacks
Preliminary list made of ’likely to go’ items
It's not set in concrete by any * sons for this, one being that all the
means, but Burleson ISD Trustees figures were simply estimates,
have loosely cemented together a Some savings might not be as
list of possible cutbacks should a much as projected, she said, or else
a savings in one area could cause
expenses to rise in another.
Perhaps even more important-
ly, however, she seemed to feel
pending tax rollback election be call-
ed and approved.
Whether or not die election is
called is a question that now lies in
the hands of a district judge. BISD| strongly—especially if a large num-
voters will be the determining fac- her of cuts had to he made—that the
lor if and when the controversial
issue makes it to die ballot
Already on the ballot is a prop-
osition which would provide an ad-
ditional $25,000 homestead exemp-
tion to the elderly and handicapped.
That would trim more than a quarter
of a million dollars from the school
budget
The rollback, if eventually ap-
proved, would lop off another $1.1
million from die school budget
All together this forced budget
amounts to about $1.4
million and trustees looked Monday
night at possible cuts totaling al-
most $1.8 million.
There was strong sentiment by
some members of die board to cut
some ’items from die list as being
totally unacceptable to scrape. A
majority of board members—as
well as school principals—felt that
the board would be unwise to limit
it's options at this time.
That sentiment eventually pre-
vailed by a 4-3 vote (Maurice Shep-
herd, Bob Ray, and Bernard Erick-
son opposed). .
Cretia Basham, in particular,
was opposed to die board making
ber of cuts had to be made—that the
school district must do whatever is
necessary to avoid another salary
freeze and give teachers a raise.
Superintendent of Schools Gor-
don Cockerham came short of rec-
ommending salary increases, but he
and other administrators noted that
working conditions in Burleson
were a big factor in many teachers’
decisions to teach here.
“They sure don't stay here be-
cause of the money," Cockerham
said.
He said that, unlike Gainesville
(which Burleson has been compared
to because of the successful roll-
back there), professionals here can
go "a very short distance up the
road and be employed for significant-
ly more compensation."
Cockerham also noted that it
was uncertain whether or not Burle-
son could maintain its accreditation
status if some of the cuts were
made. One possibility that has al-
ready had to be discounted is a reduc-
tion in the number of registered
nurses in favor of LVN's. A new
state mandate is expected next year
which would require a RN for a spe-
cified number of children. Burleson
commitments as to just what it could end up increasing, instead of
would and would not do when it decreasing, its ntuttWr of 1WY
wasn't absolutely necessary to do so s ^s are most state mandates,
at this time. She gave several rea- this one does not include state fund-
ing for implementation, Dora Usse-
ry said.
Some trustees and administra-
tors were somewhat at odds over the
"sacred cows” that were considered
for exclusion from the list
Erickson felt certain that, be-
cause of an insurance settlement of
over $200,000, the school district
would carry a surplus into the next
budget year. He was against cutting
bus service and the athletic pro-
gram, although he did later mention
the possibility of dropping athletics
just in the junior high.
"Have you ever heard of a sch-
ool district that has had a rollback
eliminating the athletic program?"
he asked.
Shepherd said that bus service
should be eliminated from the list
as well as cutting custodians and
crossing guards. He also did not
want to make any cuts that would
increase classroom size, create grade
level schools instead of neighbor-
hood elementaries, or do away with
UIL activities.
"You're taking it away from
the kids when you eliminate UIL,"
he said. "If the community wants to
do away with these things, then we
don't have much of a community,"
he added.
Basham said, "There's nothing
on the list I'd cut," and cautioned
board members that they were go-
ing to remove too much from the
list and take away options the board
might need later.
Junior High principal W.L.
Sanders felt the board was taking
the wrong approach as far as priori-
ties were concerned. He noted that
none of the things board members
mentioned as "untouchable" had
anything to do with academics.
"If you have to make choices
between academics andco-curricular
and extracurricular activities, then
you have to go with academics," he
said.
He also urged the board not to
consider cutting teacheApay or
eliminating insurance benefits.
"Our teachers are still adversely
affected by the salary freeze of a
couple of years ago," he said. "This
may be blasphemy, but I think you
need to give them another increase
in pay."
Sanders also felt apprehensive
about reducing the number of coun-
selors. "We had a suicide just before
Spring Break," he said. "We don't
deed to cut any counselors."
BHS principal Terry Ford said
he wasn't ready to specify just
which electives might have to be
cut in the event that a rollback
passes. "We’ll just have to look at
the numbers," he said, noting that
electives with the fewest students
were drafting, debate, and drama.
He said it would be a difficult
job to keep up with the students'
credits if the number of paraprofes-
sionals had to be cut He said the
school would have to restrict its
policy of contacting parents when a
student missed school. Larger class
sizes could also pose a problem, he
said.
"We all behave differently
when there's more of us thrown to-
gether,” he said.
jjie list of items which might
have to be cut'was prioritized by
the principals. Fred Rauschuber,
Please see ONE, page 7
• -' **
-V4
A Gulley Washer
> Stmr/JtiHN FtAtHTS
Tuesday’s deluge main*; its mark on Johnson and Tarrant Some Burleson homes were sand-bagged in order to keep out
counties as local gulleys, creeks and low spots as several the rising water. This creek, crossing FM 731 (John Jones
inches of rain caused washed-out some low water crossings. £oad) west of Burleson, rushes along a meandering route._
Mansfield youth dies Tuesday
BY SALLY ELLERTSON
A 17-year-old rural Burleson
teenager died Tuesday morning as
the result of acute respiratory failure
due to an asthma attack, according
to the Tarrant County Medical Exa-
miner's Office.
Bruce Davis Kuykendall Jr.,
2409 Birch Lane, Burleson, was pro-
nounced dead at Huguley Hospital
at 9:30 a.m. on March 28, accord-
ing to Tarrant County Medical Exa-
miner's Office Spokesman BUI Fa-
bian.
Kuykendall was a Mansfield
High School sophomore.
According to the Johnson
County Sheriff's Office spokesman,
Pam Jetsel, Kuykendall and his sis-
ter got on the school bus at die bus
stop at the Shaded Lane Estates on
C.R. 529.
"They had walked down and got
on the bus. He wasn't feeling really
good and told his sister to have the
bus driver stop because he wanted
to go home to get his asthma medi-
cine," Jetsel said.
The bus driver let Kuykendall
off die bus and continued on, pick-
ing up the remainder of die stu-
dents. According to Jetsel, a pas-
serby reported seeing Kuykendall
collapsed along die side of the road
between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. and
called the JCSO and an ambulance,
which in turn transported Kuyken-
dall to Huguley Hospital
"He was a friendly young man.
He had dropped by severtd times and
he was always personable," Mans-
field High School Assistant Prin-
cipal H.F. Werzbach said. "It's one
of those things you don't expect to
happen."
Kuykendall celebrated his I7th
birthday just over one month ago.
He was bom Feb. 17,1972, in Fort
Worth to Bruce Davis Kuykendall
Sr. of Fort Worth and Sharon Hud-
son of Burleson. Funeral services
will take place today (Thursday,
March 30) at 1:30 p.m. at die
Shannon Rose Hill Chapel in Fort
Worth with the Rev. Jack McNiel
and Rev. Ron Compton officiating.
Burial will be at Shannon Rose
Hill Cemetery.
Bruce is survived by both pa-
rents; one sister, Abbie Lynn Kuy-
kendall of Burleson; and a grand-
father, Faires Kuykendall of Arling-
ton.
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Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1989, newspaper, March 30, 1989; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761133/m1/1/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.