Schools to be cut 7.5 percent

No teachers likely to be laid off this school year, Coosa considers cutting lights off in classrooms to save money

By Katie Cole (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Published Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Alexander City and Coosa County school systems are looking at another year of limited spending after Gov. Bob Riley declared 7.5 percent proration in the state’s education spending.

“We’ll just have to go back and look at our budget and adjust it accordingly,” Coosa County Schools Superintendent Dennis Sanford said.

Sanford said cutting more from their budget would be necessary but difficult since they’ve already made significant cuts over the last year. Transportation was cut by $170,000, they received no textbook money from the state and other line items were “zeroed out.”

Coosa County teachers are not in danger of losing their jobs because the system does not have any locally funded teachers. Coosa County teachers are funded by the state and decided by the schools’ average daily membership.

Lou Ann Wagoner, superintendent of the Alexander City Schools, said the 7.5 percent proration will affect next year’s budget more than this year’s.

“As far as this school year, we’re not going to change anything,” Wagoner said. “We’re hoping that we can keep everything in the classroom intact next year.”

Both superintendents stressed the importance of saving money through conservative energy practices. Sanford said Coosa County teachers are encouraged to turn off lights and computers when they are not being used.

“Since we have begun dealing with this, every school has had to be good stewards of what we do have,” Sanford said.

The Alexander City school system saved about $138,000 on utilities last year through conservative energy practices. Wagoner said they will continue to evaluate utilities and bus route to look for additional ways to save money.

Both schools also have back-up plans for this school year if money gets too tight. The Coosa County system took out a line of credit at a local bank earlier this year in case they need additional money to pay expenses or salaries.

“I’m hoping that won’t happen, but we have made those provisions,” Sanford said.

The Alexander City system has a reserve that is supposed to hold enough money for a month’s operation. The reserve currently contains enough money for 20 days of operation.

“Between now and the next fiscal year, we will have to dip into the reserve,” Wagoner said.

The state’s fiscal year 2010 education budget will be $5.3 billion, compared to a high of $6.7 billion in 2008 and $4.2 billion in 2003, according to a press release from the governor’s office. On Tuesday, Riley said proration was necessary this year because of the increasing costs of employee health insurance and the decrease in revenue in the Education Trust Fund.

This is the first time in decades that Alabama schools have faced back-to-back years of proration. Riley declared 9 percent proration for fiscal year 2009, which ended Wednesday, before raising it to 11 percent in July.

Wagoner said an additional increase in proration remains a concern.

”My concern is whether it will remain at 7.5 percent and not just be the starting point,” Wagoner said.

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