McGinnis said that the biggest shortfall came in staff development, falling from $62,948 to $15,845. He said that the district planned to compensate by hosting in-services in house on early release Fridays.
Another program hit hard by state budget cuts came in the Safe Schools program. McGinnis noted that when he came aboard as school superintendent, the state allocated $102,000, while last year it fell to $68,894 this year, the state entitled the school district to $16,280.30. The board noted that this amount would fail to reach salary requirements for a school resource officer, with the difference to be paid from the general fund.
Other programs seeing a reduction include gifted and talented education, reduced by $1,863 and textbook allocations, falling by $10,215.
“We’re giving teachers a one-percent raise. I wish we could give more. We need to expand our alternative programs, but it is hard enough to pay for positions like a gifted and talented coordinator. We need more teachers, too,” said McGinnis.
McGinnis proposed to pay for programs targeting specific student populations with a one-time allocation from the budget of $100,000.
Follow the school board's actions in The Cadiz Record.
