HC School Board to look at six recommendations

BONIFAY - Holmes County School Board will look at six areas recommended by Superintendent Gary Galloway that are expected to provide about $600,000 in budget cuts and possibly take action on the recommendations at the next meeting on April 7 at 9 a.m.

The Board received the recommendations at its regular meeting Tuesday night. The recommendations are:

*Purchase no new buses

*Absorb positions that come open and fill where possible with existing staff

*Use district and school staff as substitute teachers

*If retired teachers are rehired, rehire them at beginning teacher salaries

*Review supplement schedules

*Send a letter to all instructional personnel on annual contracts telling them that some may not be rehired after June 30.

A complete list of possible areas for budget cutting is online at bonifaynow.com.

Some ideas are already bearing fruit. Using district staff to help monitor FCAT saved about $17,000. Of about 20 retirements in recent years all but one have been absorbed.

The Board has lost almost $1.7 million in state revenue over the last year and could see cuts of 10-18 percent by June. The District lost about $120,000 in Federal funding for Reading First coaches in recent days.