City schools uneasily await word on budget

Fortunately, there are House and Senate versions less worrisome, but part of the issue is the uncertainty as a budget deadline looms.

By law, if school systems do not offer contracts by April 15, personnel are automatically considered to be under contract. That would not preclude a system from conducting a reduction in force (RIF), notes McCoy, but it would require the system to go through public hearings.

A House bill that would have given systems another 30 days to offer contracts appears to have stalled in the Senate, according to McCoy.

One of the hang-ups is federal stimulus money. According to McCoy, the House version of the budget uses $400 million in federal funding, while the Senate version and governor’s version have lower amounts.

“It creates, not a panic, but long days and sleepless nights when you’re sitting here trying to figure out what you can do,” said McCoy.

The Commerce system is losing eight people to attrition. At least two of those will be replaced, McCoy said. Whether further cuts in personnel will be necessary depends upon the General Assembly.

But even the “final” version of the 2010 budget may not be final, if last year is an indicator.

“We had the budget set by the end of school and we got our QBE allotment sheet in July, and it has changed four times during this (school) year,” McCoy points out. “It started with a $93,000 austerity cut then went to a half million dollars the state removed from QBE this year.”