LYNN – School Department officials estimate that an impending personnel shuffle at Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute may cost the department as little as $10,000 against its fiscal 2008 budget – a figure much smaller than some originally thought.Superintendent Nicholas Kostan and School Business Administrator Stephen Upton have reviewed the contracts of soon-to-be former Director Brian Coughlin, and his replacement, Breed Middle School Principal James Ridley, determining that the bulk of the cost will come from a raise for Ridley, not the creation of a new position for Coughlin.Kostan made the decision to replace Coughlin last week, noting that he was planning to make a change at the school, and wanted to get a new person in place before budget negotiations begin for fiscal 2009. Ridley will move to LVTI on Feb. 25, when students return from winter vacation.While Kostan declined to give a reason for the change, Coughlin’s leadership has come under fire on several occasions since he took the job in 2004.Rather than abruptly firing the embattled Coughlin or waiting until the end of the school year to make a change, Superintendent Nicholas Kostan instead decided to “relocate” the director to a newly created administrative position under Deputy Superintendent Catherine Latham.This move allows the department to keep Coughlin under his current contract, which they would have had to honor if he were fired anyway, and attempt to minimize the damage by trying to promote from within at Breed.Coughlin is scheduled to earn a base salary of $97,438 in 2008, which the department is already budgeted to pay, and will pay the remainder of while he continues to work out of the administrative offices.Kostan said Coughlin’s contract, which expires in August, would not be renewed in 2009.While Ridley will almost definitely receive a raise when he renegotiates his approximate $96,000 salary before taking over LVTI, Kostan said his successor at Breed would not cost the city very much in 2008.As is required in the collective bargaining agreement, Senior Vice Principal Robert Frodema will begin acting as Interim Principal when Ridley leaves, and keep that position until a new principal is hired.According to School Business Administrator Stephen Upton, if Frodema or another candidate within Breed is hired as principal, the department will either wait until the summer to hire a new vice principal, or continue to promote from within and fill a lesser position with a permanent substitute.Even if the new principal is from outside the school, the department’s cost will still be low, because the contract for 2008 will only pay out the remainder of the school year.”In many cases the vice principal is the person that moves up to the principal position, we post the position and anyone can apply, Bob Frodema can apply if he wants,” said Kostan. “But with 60 percent of the school year gone, that reduces the cost of a contract dramatically. Also, whoever gets that position will be making less than (Ridley) because he was a senior principal, and that person will be new to the position.”Kostan said he is yet to negotiate a contract with Ridley, but indicated that he would receive a raise when taking over at Tech.The total hit against the budget will consist of Ridley’s raise and the amount paid to the new Breed principal to finish out the year.”It is going to cost us money, there is no question about that,” said Kostan. “But it will probably be around $10,000. That is just a ballpark, it isn’t an exact number, but that looks like a good estimate.”