BARBERTON: School officials say they will not reduce staff at the Barberton Head Start Decker Center when looking at new budget cuts.The preschool program serves the city and has been a component of the school system for 40 years. The Barberton district distributed more than $400,000 of its own money to the program last year to help pay for everything from building upkeep to paying for staff members, insurance and gasoline — expenses not fully funded by federal dollars. “There were a number of areas that needed to be reviewed and restructured,” said School Treasurer Ryan Pendleton. “The direction from the board was very clear that we can no longer subsidize the program with local taxpayer dollars, which we were doing pretty extensively.”School officials said they began negotiating with Akron Summit Community Action Inc., the agency that receives the bulk of the federal money for the program and passes it along to Barberton.“We ultimately receive those federal funds, but they receive that money first,” Pendleton said. “They sponsor us. We employ the staff.”The program, which has about 40 employees and 300 students, will now be solely funded by $1.6 million in federal money with no help from the school district, although it will still operate out of a district-owned building on Brady Avenue. “We think it helps a lot of our kids,” said Superintendent Patti Cleary. “The majority of them do end up going to Barberton City Schools, so it’s in our interest to keep the program healthy. But we also have to make sure we are spending within the amount of money the federal government is giving to us. “But since we have to cut K through 12, we can’t subsidize preschool when we can’t fully fund K through 12.” Cleary said the goal is keep expenses within the federal allotment of $1.6 million. Last year, the board eliminated three full-time positions and one part-time position in the Head Start program, along with nearly 40 other employees from kindergarten through grade 12. School officials had to trim the budget by $2 million to avoid a shortfall.This year the school district is again faced with budget cuts – this time, for $3 million.Cleary said the initial plan is to lay off nearly 40 people, including trimming transportation costs and scaling back some extracurricular activities. The cuts come after voters rejected a levy in November. The district has not yet decided whether to make another levy try this year.Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.