CHAMPAIGN – The Champaign school board Monday approved $1.47 million in cuts for the coming school year, which will result in the loss of less than 10 jobs.

The board began discussing possible cuts in January.

The cuts include reducing:

– One teacher position at Dr. Howard Elementary School, due to enrollment.

– Staffing at the middle and high schools, at the principals' discretion.

– One central office administrator and three coordinator positions.

– Several coaching positions.

– Choral accompanists at the high schools.

They also include cutting the days worked by food service workers by four days; cutting by half the budget for paid student workers in the district; reducing nursing hours, but not services; and reducing administrative overtime.

The district will also cut differential pay for 40 elementary teachers who do curriculum work. Those teachers serve as liaisons between teachers in the buildings and the curriculum center, and they participate in program evaluations, said Deb Foertsch, president of the teachers' union.

She is concerned about how the district will replace those positions so there is effective communication to teachers about curriculum changes and to curriculum leaders about what will and won't work in the classroom.

"We no longer have anybody who is full-time in the classroom, who is being paid to do that two-way communication piece," she said.

In addition to the cuts, the district will also save money by shortening some bus routes, cutting building budgets by 10 percent and through energy savings.

And it will generate more money by eliminating sophomore open lunch (meaning more federal reimbursement for more students eating lunch at school), and increasing summer school rates.

Although not included in the $1.47 million, the district will also save an estimated $300,000 due to retiring teachers.