Budget cuts are a fact of life these days for most school districts, and Northwestern Lehigh is no exception.

Currently 71.5 percent of the tax load is carried by the local taxpayer, with 27.8 percent going to the state and .07 percent paid by the federal government. The local percentage has been steadily increasing since 2008. Because there is not a large commercial base in the school district, the burden of taxes must fall on the local taxpayer.Money has been streaming out of the district for various reasons, such as the $600,000 it sends to other districts for cyber/charter schools, students who opt out of the school district. As a result of mounting expenses, the district is facing a $2 million hole that needs to be filled."We hope to cut that amount down to $1 million by cutting expenditures," Superintendent Mary Ann Wright told a packed middle school auditorium Wednesday evening. Currently, 65 percent of the budget goes to salary and benefits, 10 percent to buildings and departments, 1 percent is allocated for grants, and the remaining 24 percent is districtwide.One area where people think cuts could be made is administration costs. Wright addressed this non-mandated expense first. She said in the elementary schools there are at least 35 employees to one administrator. The district currently has 16 administrators, down from 19."The district," she said, "has been doing everything they can to try to cut costs," said Wright, who added that every position is re-evaluated and looked at whenever someone retires or resigns."We replaced some full-time administrative positions with part-time positions," Wright said. There are areas such as PSERS, which is the contribution to the retirement funds that the district has no control over, and this area is increasing every year.The budget is an important topic in the school district, which was apparent by the standing room only crowd. Wright acknowledged that many people have a personal stake in what happens in the district, not only from a tax paying perspective, but also because they are concerned with what budget cuts will be made.Nia Fratrik is one of those concerned residents. She said district decisions impact her because she has one child in kindergarten and two younger children who will attend kindergarten in coming years. She said she has "a lot invested." Kindergarten is one of the non-mandated programs that could be in jeopardy.Wright stressed that with budget cuts on the Northwestern horizon, it's crucial that decisions and conversations occur between the district and residents to decide which programs to keep, and which ones will be terminated.As she spoke she looked around the room and commented several times about how pleased she was to see so many students in the audience. It suggested that they were becoming involved in their community and that was exciting, she said.Wright hopes that Wednesday night's meeting will be the beginning of many constructive conversations between the district and residents. Both she and the business administrator, Leslie Frisbie, defined ways in which the school district makes decisions in order to survive.Frisbie explained the difference between mandated and non-mandated programs, and stressed how difficult it is to decide which programs should be cut or eliminated.Non-mandated programs, such as kindergarten, are those programs that the school district is not required to offer to the community. Many of the non-mandated programs, including art and music, are currently provided for every child in the district. Non-mandated programs, which also include athletics, all contribute to a well-balanced student, Wright said.However, the school district will have to look at these programs within the next few years and make difficult choices.Wright received applause from the audience when she said that although kindergarten is not mandated, "as they move forward kindergarten (will be) prioritized and maintained."Wright said staffed librarians are one area where money could be saved, but, the library plays an important role in student lives. She also said that the school district pays a portion of each student's tuition to Lehigh Carbon County Community College (LCCC). This is not mandated and can be cut to save money, since $280,000 is in the NWL's budget for this now."However," she asked, "is this really something the community wants to (cut)?"People have also asked about a four-day school week. The school district must meet 180 student days in order to meet the hour requirements. Students would either have to spend more hours a day in the classroom or the district would have to extend the school year. Wright said being a mother and grandmother herself, she really cannot see children having to spend more hours in school than they already do. She also said she's not sure if they can extend the school year beyond June 30.Wright and Frisbie both stressed throughout their presentations that they hoped the meeting would enable people to see what it was like to have to make some of these difficult budget decisions. They asked the audience to get out their cell phones for an interactive activity. The audience was given a number where they could text their votes on budget cuts.Wright said that the questions they would be asking the audience were hard questions, but ones that the school district faces every day. She said they would make everyone uncomfortable, but it was necessary in order to come to some financial conclusions.Using their cell phone text messaging, they were asked to choose between such activities as athletics, drama and kindergarten and other programs and subjects that the school district has some control over.As the audience responded, percentages fluctuated continually, suggesting that the decisions, even if they have no real consequence, are really hard to make.Forty minutes was allocated to questions. There were no answers provided at the meeting, however. Each question was recorded and posted on the NWL website.