MARYSVILLE — With a mid-year budget shortfall of roughly $1 million, Marysville School District cabinet staff took the step on Jan. 10 of tightening their own belts.

With the approval of the Marysville School District Board of Directors, MSD Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland resolved to take 10 furlough days, the equivalent of a 4 percent pay cut for this year. Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller likewise pledged 10 furlough days from each of Nyland’s five fellow school district cabinet staff members.

Nyland estimated that these moves could save the district as much as $28,000, even as he acknowledged that this would barely be enough to save a single employee.

“That probably adds up to about two-thirds or three-fourths of one FTE position,” Nyland said. “That might be enough to save one job, though, if it’s someone who technically doesn’t work full-time.”

Nyland anticipated worse cuts ahead, as he estimated that the average classified staff position pays approximately $40,000 a year, of which half has already been paid.

“If we were just to lay off classified staff, we’d have to lay off 50 of them to make up $1 million for the rest of the year,” Nyland said. “I hope we won’t have to go anywhere even near that, but it’s still heart-rending. It’s hard enough to do at the end of the year, when you can see it coming.”

With the withdrawal of more than $2.3 million in funds that had already been pledged to the Marysville School District, Nyland admitted that there are few other areas left that can be cut.

“It’s down to salaries at this point,” Nyland said. “We can’t not pay our insurance or heating bills. We’ve already stopped paying for new textbooks or travel. With the potential for layoffs, if we’re asking for the ultimate sacrifice from some of our employees, then we should be expected to do our part.”