LIVERPOOL -- Liverpool parents have had a few weeks to look over a proposed budget that would close Wetzel Road Elementary School and eliminate 130 positions, but time didn't seem to make it any more popular.
Deborah Marckusz says this all happening too quickly and she wants the district to wait a year before closing anything that would affect children.
"I really think that we need to look at this as a whole and maybe down the road something will probably need to be cut," said Markusz.
Several elements of the budget were raising controversy. Several parents also said the savings from a plan to "re-purpose" Wetzel Elementary as a part of a new high school academy doesn't add up.
"They're still going to cost them the same amount of maintenance, they're going to cost them in teachers, they're going to continue to cost," said Liverpool parent Albert Burch.
Liverpool Superintendent Dr. Richard Johns said that even a few months ago he was in favor of waiting to make any major changes but that the fiscal numbers are getting worse.
"Unfortunately given some of the variables that came to light - most particularly the governor's budget - we just couldn't delay that I don't think," said Dr. Johns on Monday night.
School board members also had a chance to discuss the Superintendent's budget on Monday night. The School Board president said she doesn't like the cuts but that the district had to make changes to make sure their problems didn't get worse.
"We're having to do things we do not like to do," said School Board President Patricia Mouton. "We're forced to do things we do not want to do. None of us are happy."
Dr. Johns acknowledged that some people feel that repurposing Wetzel Road Elementary as a high school academy won't save enough money in the long term and that the board could consider other options to close their current $10 million gap.
