The Palo Alto Board of Education will vote on the budget for the 2009-2010 school year on March 24, after a presentation by the board’s chief business officer on Tuesday, March 10.

Following the recent economic crisis, the board plans to reduce its budget, according the board’s chief business officer Kathy Mak.

“There will be 15 percent cuts in the current total budget in addition to another 4.5 percent [cut] in next year’s total budget” Mak said.

Mak says the board plans to cut the total income budget by $78,000, and the total expenditure budget by $45,000.

Mak noted that several programs would be excluded from budget cuts.

“Some programs are exempt from budget cuts,” Mak said. “Some of these include special education and transportation.”

Mak mentioned that budget cuts might hinge on inflation, compensation, and the state budget, all of which may or may not end up affecting the overall budget.

Board members were relieved by the Palo Alto Partners in Education $2.57 million donation.

“The $2.75 million from PiE is a big relief for me,” board member Melissa Baton-Caswell said. “[It’s a relief] for the school as well.”

In addition to discussing the budget, the board also assessed its goals for the 2008-2009 school year.

One aspect of the 2008-2009 goals was the implementation of staff development and improvement programs.

“We wish to continue to make our staff better,” superintendent Kevin Skelly said. “We want to train [the staff] to be more confident, and to have more skills in terms of work and curriculum.”

The board has implemented staff development and screening using a new online application system.

“One of our goals was to our application process online,” Skelly said. “The process is now, in fact, up and ready to go. We are taking applications now for positions available next year.”

Skelly also noted the care Palo Alto schools are exercising in deciding which teachers will get tenure.

“We’ll be looking very carefully at tenure,” Skelly said. “We’re listening to feedback and making sure these folks meet standards set by district.”

The board expressed confidence regarding the staff development and hiring programs.

“These [new processes] will really help us to get best staff we possibly can,” Skelly said.

The board also discussed successful additions to the curriculum. Among these is the AP Economics class at Paly, which now has 97 students enrolled in it, according to Skelly.

The board will also be adopting a new math and world language curriculum for all Palo Alto schools next year. Board members hope that the new curriculum will help students to better achieve UC standards.

Additionally, all Palo Alto schools will receive new textbooks next year for their math and world language departments.

Changes to the summer school program have also been implemented.

“In terms of summer school, we’ve made some changes,” Skelly said. “We are planning on incorporating more teachers from regular programs into summer school programs.”

The board will meet again on Tuesday, March 24, to vote on the new budget and further discuss its achievement of 2008-2009 goals.