At a time when school districts sue the state for more money and administrators in many districts have avoided the budget ax, a new superintendent has a very different approach.

John Frossard, the Wichita Falls Independent School District superintendent who arrived last week, has proposed nearly $302,000 in administrative department cuts for the 13,500 student district , the Wichita Falls Times Record News reports.

"We want to live within our budget but not be chipping away at our core mission," Frossard told trustees, as the newspaper reports.

If the 11 proposed reductions, eight of them in administration, a $296,000 shortfall would become a $5,142 surplus in the 2012-13 school year. Frossard wants to postpone remodeling projects, eliminate unnecessary district travel and charge a partial fee to non-indigent summer school students, the paper reports.

Frossard has asked all departments to submit separate budgets making cuts of 3 percent, 5 percent and 7 percent, although he says he doesn’t believe in across-the-board cuts.

Those savings might be plowed back into raises, or a one-time stipend for teachers if school board trustees have their way, the papers says. Frossard has asked for a district-wide staffing study.

Cutting district administration to save money has eluded many superintendents in Texas, but don’t tell that to one of the newest members of their club.

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Contact Curt Olson at curt@texaswatchdog.org or 512-557-3800. Follow him on Twitter @olson_curt.

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