Schools tightening belts with cuts

By MIKE JAMES
The Independent

FRANKFORT July 30, 2008 11:07 pm

— State budget cuts are forcing school districts in Kentucky, including the FIVCO area, to cut staff.
A survey by the Kentucky School Boards Association found that statewide, school districts have cut almost 1,000 positions, said KSBA spokesman Brad Hughes.
Of 138 districts that responded to the association’s query, 89 said they had cut staff because of state budget cutbacks.
Among them were Raceland-Worthington and Lawrence County.
Some other area districts that haven’t responded to the survey also have suffered from the cutbacks.
Fairview, for instance, had to lay off three teachers, a significant loss for a district its size, said district Finance Director James Day.
The result could mean increases in class size, he said.
The much larger Boyd County district lost two positions because of state funding but left some others unfilled through attrition, Assistant Superintendent Mickey Rice said.
However, the Boyd district was able to find general fund money to add an additional position each to the high and middle schools and half position to each of the four elementaries.
That doesn’t necessarily mean more teachers, however. Instead, the schools are more likely to add to existing partial positions. A part-time teacher might be bumped up to full time, for instance.
Ashland has reduced some certified (faculty and administrative) positions and some classified (support staff) positions, said Superintendent Steve Gilmore, who did not have precise numbers available.
Enrollment is likely to be up from last year, which might ease the burden, he said. State funding is based primarily on the number of students in a district.
On the heels of cutting its classified staff last year, Lawrence County also has had to trim this year, said assistant supervisor Joe Hewlett. However, whenever possible, cuts have been made to keep teachers in the classroom, he said.
Raceland-Worthington was able to manage its cuts through attrition, Superintendent Frank Melvin said.
The KSBA found statewide, districts eliminated about 455 faculty and administrative positions and 520 support positions, Hughes said. That amounts to about 1 percent of faculty in the state.
The reason is the $14.7 million the state cut from the per-pupil funding formula it uses.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.