By Steve Alexander Reporter
.
Published: Thu, June 12, 2008 - 9:06 pm
Steve Alexander
The good news: its not as much as they thought.
Mobile County School Superintendent Roy Nichols just returned from a meeting with the state school superintendent and other superintendents from around Alabama.
That's where he got the exact figures on how much state budget cutbacks will cost the system.
Nichols said Mobile schools will get $16.7 million this coming year.
The superintendent said he made cuts anticipating getting only $13.7 million, so, as he said, "We ended up three million to the good."
But, what can the school system do with the extra money?
Nichols said, "The answer is nothing because we were told also that unless several things happen, we're likely to face proration anywhere from 3 to 5 percent in the upcoming year."
Proration would mean across the board state budget cuts in education, and even less money for school systems.
Governor Bob Riley held a ceremonial signing of the education budget at a school in Prattville Thursday and he answered criticism that his budget proposal to the legislature was based on tax collection projections that were too optimistic.
Riley said, "Let me tell you. I made a budget proposal. They have every right to change it and they always do."
The whole process has been frustrating for people like Jo Ann Christopher.
She was laid off last month as a a fine arts specialist in the Mobile school system.
Christopher said, "How can you put a dollar mark on your students education? Why should you have to deliberate what you're going to do with the money?"
But there are encouraging words for some laid off teachers.
Nichols said, "Many teachers are getting notices about being hired back."
Twelve schools in the Mobile system that have been hard to staff in past years were designated priority schools, according to Nichols, "to make sure that they were fully staffed before we moved on to the others. They're virtually all fully staffed at this point with certified people and beginning Monday we'll start with the Phase Two schools."
The superintendent also says the Bedsole Foundation is providing $10,000 to help fund the program to test some students for drugs in four Mobile schools starting this coming fall semester.
Other money is coming from the Mobile Police Department, the Mobile County Sheriff's Office and Prichard Police.
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Alabama Schools May Face Financial Trouble
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They raised our property taxes so that the school systems would receive more money. Well, I guess they blew it, and look where they are now. A four year old could manage money better than these clowns.