BUDGET DEFICIT WOES LIKELY TO HIT JACKSON SCHOOL DISTRICT

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Education approved a $23.9 million budget during a meeting Tuesday that will likely result in deficit spending for the fiscal year.

Assistant superintendent Dr. Terry Gibbons said the district will receive an estimated $22,496,301 in revenue from state, local, county and federal sources this year. Despite an expected increase of more than $868,000 over the last fiscal year, the revenue is not enough to keep pace with rising staff and operating costs, he said."With the growth of the district that we are experiencing right now, we are expending more than we are taking in," Gibbons said. "We are projecting at the present time that we'll have about $345,628 less in the general fund and special revenue fund than we had previously."Enrollment has grown every year since the 1989-90 school year and is currently at nearly 4,400 students. Enrollment is expected to increase to nearly 5,000 students over the next five years.

Operating expenses have grown at the same rate as enrollment. Two new buildings were opened by the district last year to accommodate enrollment increases, which meant increases in various operating expenses, including utilities and maintenance. More than 40 new teachers and other staff also were hired in the past two years, which adds an additional 1.3 million to staff expenses annually."Your operations and your staffing size will need to adjust accordingly as you move forward," said Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson. "We have to keep balances at a certain level in order to keep those at a quality the state and the community expect."