Nevada district prepared for cuts

Nevada Daily Mail

If possible cuts of between $736,000 and $1.275 million in state aid do materialize for the Nevada R-5 School District this fall, Dr. David Stephens, R-5 superintendent, said Thursday that he does not foresee the need for budget cuts during the 2013-14 school year.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said in a news release Monday that House Bill 253 he vetoed in June will drastically cut state aid for Missouri school districts and raise taxes on prescription drugs if the Legislature overrides his veto during its veto session in September.

Citing figures from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Nixon said there are two ways to figure the amount of the cuts. The General Assembly's fiscal note estimates the bill will cut $692 million of state aid when fully implemented. The second possibility is that if the Federal Marketplace Fairness Act becomes law the cut in education funding would increase to $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2014.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released data at the request of the Missouri Association of School Administrators showing that the impact on the Nevada R-5 School District would be a cut in state aid from the currently estimated $8.7 million to between $7.98 and $7.44 million in fiscal year 2014.

Stephens said that if the cuts in state money materialize the district's deficit for the upcoming school year will be larger than currently projected, but will be manageable.

"We have healthy reserve funds to make up that deficit," Stephens said.

"Maintaining a healthy fund balance has been a priority of mine to cover situations like this," he said.

He said because of that he does not anticipate any cuts in the current school year.

However, he said what the district will do is to continue the current practice of not automatically filling every position that becomes vacant. If possible the job will be distributed among the remaining staff. rather than be filled. If the position is deemed essential it will be filled.

"But we can't afford to do this forever," he said.

Stephens said that Gov. Nixon said it well, "At a time when quality schools and a skilled workforce are more important than ever to competing in the global economy, this reckless fiscal experiment would undermine permanently Missouri's ability to support public education and other vital services."