SCOTT CITY SCHOOLS VIEW FURTHER CUTS

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City School District officials say they will need to cut personnel and salaries to compensate for a $125,000 shortfall in state funding this year.

"Our state revenue sources are diminishing," said district Superintendent Bob Brison. "And we seem to be getting the message that this will become a permanent thing."

Brison and school board members Monday discussed the district's state funding at a school board meeting. At the meeting, the board also adopted a $3.2 million budget 1991-1992 school year.

Brison said in addition to state funding cutbacks, the district is facing about a 20 percent increase in the cost of employee health insurance.

He said one of the ways the district may be able to deal with rising costs and dwindling funds is to reduce personnel costs.

At the board's June meeting, members voted to enact a salary freeze for teachers and administrators. It also was decided that the district likely won't hire an assistant high school principal, a position that was vacated in early June.

One part-time and two full-time teaching positions also are likely to remain unfilled.

Brison said Monday that the district will have about the same number of students enrolled during the coming school year as it did last year, about 850.

He said one possible solution to the district's budget crunch might be an increase in local revenue. Researching that prospect is one of the board's primary goals for the upcoming school years.

"We've been able to offset these cuts by reducing our expenditures, mainly in personnel by not replacing people and freezing salaries," Brison said. "We don't know how long we'll be able to continue doing this, especially when you consider the cost of our health care may increase 20 percent."

Brison said the only hope for "new money" for the district is the proposed education tax, Proposition B. But he added that the tax seems to benefit higher education more than elementary and secondary schools in the state.

A new funding formula for elementary and secondary school in the state, either in addition to or instead of the tax, might help those schools deal with rising costs, he said.