The new round of stimulus money in the Jobs bill to help school districts from laying off personnel saved Carrier Mills-Stonefort from having to institute a reduction in force, but is not enough to hire any new personnel.
The board met 5 p.m. Sunday to consider posting an opening for a second grade teacher and consider hiring a social worker which was formally a grant funded position. The board decided to hire neither.
The board accepted some teacher retirements at the end of last school year and decided not to replace those positions.
"At that time there was talk of further reductions, laying off additional people, but class sizes were getting smaller. We decided to try to stick it out and not RIF anyone," Superintendent Richard Morgan said.
The state owes the district $119,428 from last year. The district is currently looking at a reduction in state funding of $209,890 from last year "that we know of," Morgan said.
Of that loss includes $110,000 from stimulus money provided last year, $55,000 loss in transportation funding and a 20 to 25 percent loss in state aid, Morgan said.
"The preliminary figures from the Jobs Bill is $240,000 so what it amounts to is we expect reductions from the state (this fiscal year) to be that much if not more," Morgan said.
"What the board is going to try to do is use the money to keep jobs here this year. The primary goal is to be fiscally conservative and keep the doors open."
- DeNeal receives e-mail at mailto:bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
