The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District board on Feb. 16 agreed to lay off up to 18.4 certificated positions at the end of this school year in order to decrease the $5 million budget deficit for 2012-13.

The district will use $3.2 million from the reserve fund to completely close the gap.

According to Steve Jennings, TTUSD superintendent, some of the positions being cut have nothing to do with the budget deficit, but are because of declining enrollment.

“No adjustments for declining enrollment were made last year, but in order to be fiscally prudent, we need to address this,” Jennings said in a statement.

With state law mandating teachers be notified by March 15 of a potential reduction in force, the board had to take action even with the state budget being in a state of flux.

Negotiations between the Tahoe Truckee Education Association and the district have been taking place since last fall. Jennings explained that both sides plan to work collaboratively to come up with solutions that have the least impact on teachers and students.

TTUSD is in the process of making cuts in management and district operations that will total a minimum of $201,000. In addition, non-personnel areas to cut back have been identified, including $214,000 in cuts to utilities, athletics, and deferred maintenance, plus an increase in transportation fees, have been approved by the board. The target for cost savings in the non-personnel arena is $401,539.

However, because nearly 90 percent of the district’s expenses are in employee payroll, lay offs are inevitable.

The next regular board meeting is March 7 at 5:30pm.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report