Butler Special Needs Programs Could See Cuts From Sequestration

The Butler Public Schools district could be impacted by federal sequestration cuts should they be imposed beginning on Friday.

Congress has a Friday deadline if members wish to act to stop the $85 billion in cuts, $12 million of which could directly affect primary and secondary education funding in New Jersey according to figures released by the White House. 

In Butler, this could mean cuts specifically to programs supported through the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), according to Superintendent Mario Cardinale, although it was not clear how much funding could be lost. NCLB grant funding supports the district's professional development training for teachers in special education and remedial programs, including for mathematics, he said.

"For IDEA, it could mean, [a reduction] in terms of our ability to have the federal dollars for the IDEA grant that help us pay tuition, for example, for our out of district kids with highly detailed and highly involved needs," Cardinale said.

School district officials throughout the state and country are meeting this week prior to Friday's deadline to discuss the significance of the sequestration cuts. In Bloomingdale, Business Administrator George Hagl  to the same programs that Cardinale noted should the cuts move forward.

The cuts would begin to take effect immediately on March 1 and not only impact education but also healthcare, environmental organizations and the military. Sequestration cuts on the federal level are anticipated to total $1.2 trillion over nine years.