We will be discussing this at tonight's (February 10) School Board Meeting (cable channel 21, 6 p.m.)

To start, we have already reduced major purchases such as computers, software, scheduled textbook replacement and buses. We have also frozen all hiring of non-mission-critical positions. These are just beginning steps and not solutions in themselves.

We have also asked our employee associations to consider re-opening bargaining to discuss potential changes to our existing employment contracts.

We still don't fully know. We don't mean to alarm anyone, but we expect to have major revenue shortfalls this school year, and the next two years. In addition to the amount of funding, the timing of that funding is uncertain and subject to change. These factors make it challenging to plan and communicate.

We ask for your patience and thank you in advance. We will keep you informed as best we can on the on-going budget situation. If you need background information on our current budget, please visit http://www.salemkeizer.org/content/budget-information

We will all need to make sacrifices for our students. It is simply too early to know how significant those sacrifices will need to be. We are heading into tough economic times, so it becomes even more important to stick together as a community and keep the interests of our students at the forefront of every decision and action.