A formal plan detailing additional spending cuts will be presented to the Benton-Carroll-Salem school board Aug. 23, the district administration said.

Superintendent Diane Kershaw has presented a preliminary list of more than $1 million in cuts to the board, including closing two elementary schools, which would result in staff reductions of at least 16 employees.

She said she intends to present final plan recommendations to the board on Tuesday.

The school board has voted to place a 3.9-mill emergency levy on the ballot for the November election.

“Cuts alone won’t be enough to keep us in the black while offering the programs we believe are important to our community,” Kershaw said. “This is why the levy is so critical to our future.”

Treasurer Anne Arnold presented a forecast to the board last week that indicates the district faces a deficit in fiscal year 2012-13 without cuts and revenue from a new levy, which is estimated to generate about $1.32 million annually.

The district ended the fiscal year on June 30 about $35,178 under budget, she said in a report earlier this month.

Expenses exceeded revenues, however, by about $1.7 million, with the short-fall being made up from a carry-over from the previous year as planned, Arnold said.

The board voted to close Rocky Ridge Elementary School at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

Kershaw’s proposal would likely include closing Graytown and Carroll schools and moving the fourth grade to the middle school and eighth grade to the high school starting with the 2012-13 school year. The seventh grade would be moved to the high school in the 2013-14 school year.

Voters rejected a 3.9-mill, 5-year levy earlier this month by 138 votes; For - 1,103 to Against - 1,241, according to unofficial results.

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