Editor's note: This story is part of a series of articles on Summit School District budget cuts, leading up to the district's community budget meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, at Summit Middle School.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Academic programs and instruction could be among the wounded after upcoming budget cuts at Summit schools.

Declines in state funds have school district officials preparing to make budget reductions of $800,000 to $1.4 million for the 2010-2011 school year. The district's general fund totals $22 million for this school year.

Staff coordination of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program — the district's framework for instruction — could see significant reductions at all levels, from kindergarten through high school.

Summit School District has been phasing in the IB program districtwide for the past several years. Through IB, students are encouraged to see themselves as members of a globalized society, and they approach the curriculum through cross-disciplinary problem-solving. The program also emphasizes character development, offering lessons on attributes like empathy, risk-taking and respect.

“It extends beyond instruction to looking at the total student, in terms of responsibility to their community, a global perspective, applying knowledge, taking action and developing positive attitudes,” said Summit School District's director of instruction, Lou Marchesano. “Its emphasis is on concepts and problem solving, not just knowledge acquisition.”

Currently, 0.2 positions at each of Summit's elementary schools are dedicated to the coordination of the IB program. In other words, one staff member spends the equivalent of one day a week overseeing the program's implementation throughout each school. Summit Middle School and Summit High School each have 0.5 positions to coordinate the program.

The school district is proposing a reduction in IB coordination, meaning all those positions would be eliminated, thereby removing $154,000 in expenses. Principals would likely pick up the ball.

“We're not eliminating the responsibilities and job duties; principals would have to do that in addition to everything else they're already doing,” Marchesano said.

Marchesano predicted that such a move would slow the ongoing IB implementation process.

“Any time you have fewer resources to put toward an instructional goal or program, you're going to see effects,” Summit High School principal Drew Adkins said. “But in tough times like these, people step up to the plate, and they do the best they can with what they have. We're seeing that not only in the schools, but also in the community at large.”

Also on the chopping block is pay for teachers who craft planning units at the elementary level. Currently, teachers are paid for time above and beyond their required hours to develop ways to integrate curricula across subjects in six-week units. The district has proposed to eliminate that pay, saving about $52,000.

“Schools will have to get more creative in how they find collaborative time and how they continue to develop their planners,” Marchesano said.

Also among the proposed reductions is a 15 percent cut to curriculum supplies — new text books, science lab materials, art supplies, technology and other materials used during instruction.

“The cost of materials has not decreased, and that makes it difficult to keep up. Obviously, we do the best we can with the resources we have,” Marchesano said.

Marchesano will retire from his position as director of instruction at the end of this school year. His retirement sparked discussion of whether other district administrators could absorb his duties, including oversight of the district's gifted and talented program, English-language acquisition, math, literacy, IB and other programs.

According to school district spokeswoman Julie McCluskie, the position's elimination hasn't garnered much support among the schools' staff. The district has posted the position with the caveat that filling it will depend on available funding.

“We're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Adkins said of proposed cuts at the high school. “There are some hard decisions that are going to have to be made about how to provide the best education for our kids and how to prepare them for life after Summit High School. It's going to come down to some really tough calls.”

Julie Sutor can be reached at (970) 668-4630 or jsutor@summitdaily.com.