SCOTT CITY SCHOOLS TRIM FISCAL BUDGET

SCOTT CITY -- Budget cuts have forced the elimination of wrestling, driver's education and the school newspaper at Scott City High School.

In addition, out-of-district tuition has been raised by $100 and one section of kindergarten has been eliminated in an effort to save the district about $75,000 next school year.

"This was a wretched experience," said Superintendent Bob Brison, who said cutting the programs was difficult but necessary to keep the district financially sound.

The Scott City Board of Education approved the cuts last week. They will go into effect in the fall.

Brison said the district currently has four sections of kindergarten, but will make do with three next year. No teachers will be let go as part of the cuts, but one junior high language teacher who is retiring will not be replaced.

Driver's education will possibly be offered in the summer, if there is enough student interest. Brison said it's possible the students will pay a fee to enroll in the class.

The wrestling team was eliminated because there was not enough participation to form two competitive teams and because interest in it had been waning, Brison said.

The school newspaper, The Rampage, has been in existence for 18 years, said newspaper adviser and teacher June Swift. Last year, the paper was awarded the highest honor given by the Missouri Interscholastic Press Association.

"The paper will be missed," Swift said. "It has a history of doing really well in competition and the students enjoy it."

The paper is published six times a year. Swift said fewer students had signed up to work on the newspaper staff next year than ever before, which may have been one reason for the paper being cut. The yearbook has not been cut.

Swift said she believes The Rampage will again be funded, once money is available.

"I suspect that the (student) interest and the money will come back in a year or so," she said.

Brison said the district is facing cutbacks in state funding, and will not be able to offer the same programs and activities it did in the early 1980s, when there were about 1,300 student enrolled. The current enrollment is 870.

"We were looking at operating with the same programs as we did then," he said. "And also, the staff is getting smaller. There are fewer teachers to take care of some of these activities."

The superintendent said the programs that were cut were those deemed to affect students the least.

"We have placed a priority on keeping the academics strong when at all possible and keeping class size as small as we can," he said.

"These were tough decisions. We had the soundness of the community and the school in mind when these decisions were made."

The possibility of further cuts will likely be discussed at the next board meeting April 9. But Brison said no specific programs have been deemed to be next on the list of possible cuts.

"The deliberation will continue until the 1992-1993 budget is complete in several months," he said.