In last night,s board meeting we made much headway in determining the district budget. Here are some of the highlights of our decisions in so far:

• All paraprofessionals will receive the option to pay a small percentage in order to access district health benefits if they are just shy of being full time. Ex. An elementary school primary grade paraprofessional works 28.5 hours per week. According to our current budget by- laws, full time employment is defined by working 30 hours per week. Therefore, if any paraprofessional who works 28.5 hours per week wishes to pay in a small percentage (still to be determined) to make up for the fact that they are not full time, they could then get the health plan through the school district.
• All teachers, both full and part time, will receive a 2% pay raise.
• None of the current special programs (art, physical education, music or woodworking) within the district will be affected by any budget cuts that we make.

We will add more highlights after the next board meeting regarding our budget.