Cuts hit home

By Jennifer J. Foster

Lee County residents began to feel the first ramifications of the leadership vacuum in Montgomery this week.

The OA News’ own Brittany Whitley reports that some of the recent dismissals in the Lee County Schools system are the result of budgetary concerns.

According to the story, approximately 15 teachers were dismissed for budgetary concerns, and 15 more positions will remain unfilled and basically disappear, Superintendent Dr. Stephen Nowlin said.

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As for the budgetary layoffs, Nowlin said this is a new experience for Lee County.

“I don’t think they (citizens of Lee County) have ever had a reduction before based on budgetary consideration,” he said.

When the Alabama Senate gets around to putting together an education budget—now three days late and counting—Nowlin said he expects that Lee County’s budget will suffer a $2 million cut.

“That, compounded with the new Smiths Station High School plans that call for a yearly debt service of about $2 million, leaves the county needing $4 million,“ Whitley writes.

The elimination of 30 positions in Lee County schools isn’t enough; to cope with the budget shortfall, Nowlin said, the school system will be forced to reach into reserves for next year’s expenses.

Compounding the budget problem is the failure last fall of a property tax proposal that would have provided more money for local schools. Similar referenda failed in Auburn and Opelika.

One of the arguments for the property tax proposals last year was that the added money—which would come to schools in addition to state funding—would give local schools what they needed to overachieve in education.

Who could have known that schools would have needed that money to meet regular budget numbers?