COBB COUNTY - The Cobb school board is asking for community input on the fiscal year 2011 budget, and posted a survey Tuesday on its Web site calling all parents, students, teachers, district staff members and community members to weigh in with their budget concerns.

District officials announced last week at a budget meeting that the district is facing a projected shortfall of $137.7 million for FY11. According to a news release from the district Tuesday, the school board will consider "extreme measures" to balance the budget and reduce spending.

"The online survey provides an opportunity for Cobb County School District stakeholders to indicate their priorities, and offer input and suggestions," according to the release. "The information submitted by stakeholders will play an important role as the Board of Education prepares to approve a new budget on June 9, 2010."

The survey will be available on the district's Web site and each school's Web site through April 19. It is anonymous and provided through SurveyMonkey, a Web-based survey tool.

Board Chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle said she is anxious to see the public's concerns and priorities, and is encouraging as many people as possible to participate.

"I think getting input from as many people as we can certainly helps," Crowder-Eagle said. "We're going to have to make some cuts and people can help us prioritize and figure out what's most important."

Since the survey is anonymous, there is no way to track users, except by using an Internet Protocol address, or a numerical label that is assigned to each device connected to the Internet. In terms of survey validity, district spokesman Doug Goodwin assured that SurveyMonkey prevents identical responses from the same IP address, preventing a participant from re-taking the survey numerous times from the same computer.

Starting with an introductory letter from the school board members, the survey includes about 11 screen pages and 17 questions, which should take participants around 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Of those 17 questions, three ask participants to rank their priorities for school programs and services at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Another questions ask for further priority rankings of potential budget reductions that have been discussed by the board and were introduced by Superintendent Fred Sanderson last week at a community forum at Campbell High School.

The grade level priority ranking questions include issues like bus transportation; offering physical education in elementary school; art and music at all grade levels; offering advanced and specialized learning programs like Target and magnet; and offering SAT/ACT prep courses and advanced placement courses in high schools. The survey asks participants to rank these programs and services on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being most essential and 5 being least.

Under the "other options for consideration" question, the survey asks participants to rank the potential budget cuts on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being a preferred option and 5 being unacceptable. These options include, eliminating instructional part-time positions; reducing the school year by five days; going to a four-day school week; reducing kindergarten to half-day; increasing the millage rate; closing facilities; and reducing pay across the board.

Goodwin said the district plans to send a mass e-mail to those on its distribution list and send automated phone calls to parents and teachers in the district alerting people of the survey.

The board originally requested the survey in February, and Sanderson and his executive cabinet came up with the questions, which received board approval, Goodwin said. The district has had a subscription to SurveyMonkey since 2005 and uses it for a variety of purposes, Goodwin said. It costs $200 per year and comes out of the district's communications budget.