2 percent cuts to come

By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE and AMBER DILLEY
Glasgow Daily Times

December 13, 2008 03:30 pm

— Whether it’s 4 percent or 2 percent, a cut in the budget plan midway through the fiscal year is never a welcome occurrence for a school superintendent.
Glasgow Independent School District Superintendent Kathy Goff is just thankful her predecessors planned for the future.
“Fortunately, the superintendents who served before me were very good at management of money and we were able to build a nice contingency fund,” Goff said Monday. “Of course, (the cut) will hurt us, but at this point, I don’t anticipate affecting personnel or any programming.”
Before Gov. Steve Beshear changed the amount of cuts to take place, Goff said the announcement was not a surprise.
“We’ve known for some time that the state of Kentucky has needed some additional revenue sources and that the budget wasn’t balanced,” she said. “It seems like education has been taking some big hits lately and it makes it more difficult for school districts trying to reach proficiency. We still have the goals and the mandates to accomplish. I’m more so concerned about the reductions we will have for the 2009-10 school year. There is already discussion about those as well.”
Goff said the district will be looking at ways to secure funds for the next fiscal year to offset the cuts.
“Right now, we’re watching very closely President-elect (Barack) Obama’s work plan he’s putting together,” she said. “One of the things he’s looking at is renovations and building of schools. We hope to get our name on the list for some of those funds. I know we’ve already had contact with Congressman-elect (Brett) Guthrie and he’s definitely going to put our name on the list, perhaps for those funds to come to Kentucky.”
The announcement Thursday that Beshear would recommend a 2 percent cut, excluding SEEK or Support Education Excellence in Kentucky funding, for the general assembly to vote on makes the outlook a bit brighter.
“The announcement made by the governor yesterday (Thursday) was better news, but we still are not sure exactly what will be affected by the 2 percent budget cuts,” said Sue Furlong, district director of finance, in an e-mail Thursday. “SEEK is exempt but there is a guaranteed SEEK base and then other add-ons such as transportation, exceptional children, etc. I don’t know if those areas are exempt also.”
Planning on a 2 percent cut, the district will have to reduce professional development funds by $296, textbook funds by $1,391, transportation by $7,396 and the extended school services program by $607.
Goff said the district would use contingency funds to cover the cuts for the rest of this fiscal year.
The cuts are difficult, she said, not just because of personnel requirements or because the district will have to dip into its reserve money, but because of state mandates on testing and goals.
“If we didn’t have the mandates with the testing system and some of the other things that we have to have in place, you perhaps could survive (without state funding),” she said. “But as long as there are restrictions set for us, with the way public schools are structured in the state of Kentucky, I do not think we could make it without state funding.”