The Charleston School Board met Wednesday and discussed staffing proposals, including cutting as many as five teaching jobs, to deal with budget cuts.

The board passed a motion by a vote of 4-3 that will eliminate an athletic secretary and a library aide, and will leave unfilled three teaching positions left vacant due to retirements.

Under this motion, a teacher will also be transferred from Jefferson Middle School to Carl Sandburg Elementary School, which means that Jefferson will lose three teachers.

The meeting, which was held at the administrative offices of the Community Unit School District, was highly attended, with many community members voicing their opinions and concerns.

School Board President Patrice Stratton began the discussion of staffing cuts by outlining the fiscal problems the board is experiencing and the ways in which the board has tried to cut costs.

“The fact that we have had financial difficulties for many years is not a surprise,” Stratton said.

Stratton described the loss of revenue the board has experienced as a result of state budget cuts and said that the board has tried to save money in creative ways, but that cutting some teaching positions was still necesary.

“There is nothing sinister or dishonest in the way the board has tried to bring expenses under control,” Stratton said, “We are not alone in having to face difficult decisions.”

Superintendent Ted Wetekamp then outlined five options for cutting staff positions to save money.

The options each called for eliminating some combination of positions including two category-four clerks, an athletic secretary, a library aide, three teaching positions left vacant by retirements, two other teaching positions and a psychology internship.

The board then opened the meeting to discussion and comments from the community and board members.

“We need to look at the long-term situation,” said board member Patty Fehrenbacher.

Board member Ron Miller added, “the more aggressive we can be now, the less aggressive we will have to be later.”

Gail Mason, another board member, said that the board had $3.6 million in reserves and suggested that they wait a year to “see where the money is then.”

Mason also voiced her concern that the Jefferson school would be unfairly burdened by the staffing cuts.

Mason then proposed a motion for an “option six,” which would eliminate the two clerk positions and would allow only one of the three positions left open after retirements to go unfilled. The motion died when no one seconded it.

The next motion proposed called for the elimination of the two clerk positions, the three positions that had been held by the retiring teachers, and one teaching position each at Carl Sandburg and Jefferson schools.

The motion was defeated by a 4-3 vote.

The board also voted unanimously not to renew the contracts of several teachers that had been found to be certified but not qualified and several aides whose positions were funded by federal and state grants that were no longer available.

Susie Spoo, 3121 Oakwood Drive, president of the Charleston Education Association teachers union, said: “we’re always disappointed with any teaching cuts, but we’re happy no individuals lost their jobs.”