Isabel Coyne could barely see over the microphone when she approached the podium facing the Durham Public Schools Board of Education. When she got there, she pulled out a piece of notebook paper and started reading.

"I'm not just a student; I'm a learner," the third grader said. "I'm very worried about the changes that you plan to make in our school. I understand that there will be fewer teachers and more students in every class."

Coyne was one of about 20 people who came to the central office Tuesday night to talk about reductions in staff that could come because of a massive budget deficit the system's facing next year.

"It is already hard for my teachers to take the time to teach the kids who are having a hard time and still have time to teach me more challenging material," Coyne said.
The proposed budget for next school year is $401.2 million. That means there's a net reduction of about $17.8 million in operating services for the district. On Friday, administrators learned there could be an even bigger hole because state revenues are down and there could be even less funding coming in from the Department of Public Instruction.
"It's so new we don't know [how it will impact us] yet," said Hank Hurd, Chief Operating Office for DPS. "We just keep continuously get bad news on this."
Here's how the budget breaks it down:

• Elimination of 40 central service support positions ($2 million)
• Elimination of 48 classroom support positions for the schools ($2.4 million) 
• Reduction of local funds for staff development activities ($0.3 million) 
• Reduction of local supply and material funds ($0.4 million) 
• Increased student-teacher ratios at schools (80 positions, $4.1 million)
• Reduced classroom support to match student enrollment (98 positions, $4.9 million)
• Reduced teacher assistant positions (81 positions, $2.2 million) 
• Redirected new in Fiscal Year 2008 - 2009 Exceptional Children support positions to IDEA federal stimulus funds (30 positions, $1.5 million)

"It all means an overall reduction in staff from the local and state budgets of at least 377 positions and budget reductions of non-salary funds of at least $0.7 million to date," the budget proposal says.
Former Durham Public School student Donald Hughes said the Board needs to be more transparent about where those are coming from.

"When we're cutting 192 teachers, we need to know where those teachers are coming from," he said. "Are they coming from our most low-performing schools?"

Some parents were upset that the Board didn't get the public involved sooner.

"By now, it's too late and it's really difficult for people to step up and support you," Nancy Cox said.

Administrators say the teacher to student ratio is still under the state requirements, but parents think it's edging too close.

"The population we serve is incredibly diverse and incredibly high-risk," said Natalie Beyer, who is another parent. "We will be in Raleigh. We will be in Washington. We will be at the county commissioners. We will fight for the children because this is the future of our country."

DPS Teacher David King said the cuts would mean teachers would have less time to focus on individual students.

"It makes a big difference, in their development years - they're a little squirrely - their attention spans tend to wonder," he said. "If I can sit next to a kid ... if I have an aide with me ... my job is much more effective."