Editor's note: A portion of this story was inadvertently left out of the print edition. This is the entire story.

CHAMPAIGN – A revised plan for budget cuts in the Champaign school district would eliminate two additional administrative positions but remove several other possible cuts from consideration.

The school board talked again about the cuts at a noon meeting Wednesday.

The revised recommendations include eliminating an administrative position in the special-education department and another director, for a total savings of $200,000. That would allow the district to avoid making cuts in other areas.

The recommendations in- clude selling land near Barkstall and Dr. Howard elementary schools, which would bring in an estimated $435,000; paying for $200,000 in building ex- penses with facilities sales-tax money rather than money in the Operations & Maintenance fund; and reducing district travel expenses by $50,000.

The proposals that would be eliminated from consideration include cutting middle school and high school athletic budgets (which would have meant cutting middle school baseball); reducing library aides; reducing world language offerings at sixth grade; reducing elementary band and strings teachers; reducing enrichment teachers; increasing textbook rental fees; and charging fees for extracurricular activities.

"We're a lot further away from the students than I thought we were going to be," said school board President Dave Tomlinson of the revised list of possible cuts.

Some board members were concerned about a plan to change the support for struggling elementary readers. The district recommends moving some of its 52 Reading Recovery and literacy support teachers to the classroom.

Reading Recovery is a program for first-graders who need help with reading.

The plan calls for two such teachers to co-teach, each spending half their time in the classroom and half doing Reading Recovery. They would use their strategies for building reading skills with the entire class, said Deputy Superintendent Dorland Norris.

The $500,000 in savings would come because those reading teachers are paid using federal Title 1 money, and regular classroom teachers are paid with district money.

Board member Greg Novak was concerned about a loss of services for students, as the change would mean 10 classroom teacher positions would be eliminated, with the reading specialists moving into those classrooms.

Norris said it would be a more efficient use of teachers with expertise in reading instruction, which needs to start in core subject areas. Not all literacy and Reading Recovery teachers would move to the classroom, and arrangements would vary by building.

Eliminating the extended day at Stratton Elementary School, for a savings of $230,000, was a proposed cut taken off the table under the revised recommendations. But some board members said they still want to consider it.

Board member Stig Lanesskog worried that families choosing Stratton will expect their children to be in school for a longer day, and they need notice that it could change. The kindergarten lottery for parents to choose their school preference is in March.

Stratton Principal Orlando Thomas said a survey of parents showed most wanted to keep the extended day, but only a handful said they would leave the school if extended day was eliminated. Thomas said many teachers would prefer to not have an extended day, and between seven and 12 staff members leave every year because of the extended day schedule.

Board members also said they did not want to cut computer lab aides. The original proposal to cut aides at all levels was revised to cut them only at the elementary level. But several board members asked that those possible cuts be eliminated as well.

Board members also said they wanted to reduce the number of proposed cuts at the high schools. The recommendations call for cutting three positions at each high school. Board members were concerned with how that might affect the restructuring plans, particularly at Centennial, which is still working to complete its plan.