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PAGE 12A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 11. 2009
Come to our
TOWN HALL
MEETING!
Funding Crunch Leaves City
Schools' Textbook Money Tight
DAY
PRESIDENT
CHS Band Members Honored
The Commerce Marching Band held a banquet Jan. 27. Senior band mem
bers were recognized as well as other outstanding band members from
various sections as well as the auxiliary. Members who awards for outstand
ing service are, left to right, (front) Carly Reid, Sarah Bailey, Allison Roe,
Savannah Olivares, Megan Parker, Kacee Cooper, (back) Hannah Davis, Caleb
Lang, Douglas Chambers and Jessica Millwood. The band is under the direc
tion of Kara Taylor.
By Ben Munro
Commerce school lead
ers will be tasked to find
textbook money this year
amid bleak financial fig
ures.
New books for K-8
English and two levels of
high school math, slated
for adoption this year,
will cost approximately
$116,960.
The state covers
$35,732 of that cost, leav
ing Commerce to pay
the remaining balance —
around $81,000 — out of its
own pocket.
“Obviously, the money is
not there from the state,"
Commerce Schools super
intendent James “Mac"
McCoy said. “We just hope
that we’re able to pick it up
locally to where all kids
have what they need.”
The state actually does
not require school districts
to adopt new books, but
the system must keep up
with curriculum changes.
And some books are now
out-of-date.
That leaves Commerce
school leaders with some
numbers-crunching to do.
“It’s another one of those
things where, what are we
going to have to not do in
order to do that?" McCoy
said.
The city school system
isn’t exactly sure how
much money it can apply
toward textbooks since it
still awaits word from the
state legislature concern
ing education cuts.
At last count, the school
system could lose $205,000
next year, but nothing is
certain.
McCoy said the
Commerce Board of
Education might have to
wait until June to vote on
textbooks.
Additionally, the school
system may incur $11,277
in expenses for social
studies, a new drama
course and its expanding
advanced placement (AP)
program.
If Commerce lands a
grant for AP physics, it
would have to purchase
books and lab supplies for
four AP courses next year.
How can we improve
Downtown
Commerce?
February 19, 2009
6:00 p.m.
Commerce Civic Center
FEBRUARY 13-16
PLUS A SUPER SATURDAY
SIDEWALK SALE
Come help us with ideas on
how to improve our downtown.
Dinner Provided
2nd Place
East Jackson Compre
hensive High School
FFA member Mercedes
Lakhicharran placed
second in the Area II FFA
Jr. Floral Design Career
Development Event.
Lakhicharran will repre
sent EJCHS FFA at the
state contest in March.
Schools' Sales Tax Proceeds Plummet
By Ben Munro
As the economy spirals
downward, so do the city
school system’s SPLOST
dollars.
Commerce Schools col
lected just $82,263 in spe
cial purpose local option
sales tax revenue last
month, one of its most dis
mal reports ever.
The system took in
$117,316 this time last year,
a difference of $35,000.
Superintendent James
“Mac" McCoy had hoped
the system could collect
an average of $100,000 a
month.
“This wasn’t a good
month," he said. “Let’s just
hope that things don’t get
much worse."
The system received
those troubling numbers in
January, but they’re actu
ally reflective of November
sales taxes since the
SPLOST report lags two
months behind.
McCoy hopes for a signif
icant boost in the February
SPLOST totals, which will
reflect the busy December
shopping month.
McCoy said the city
schools are still faring bet
ter than others, noting that
some school districts have
suffered a 50-60 percent
drop in SPLOST funds.
In other money matters,
the system had collected
77 percent of its project
ed tax revenue at the end
of January, according to
a financial report. Overall,
it has received 63 percent
of its revenue for the year
and spent 56 percent of its
budget.
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County Schools Brace
For Staff Reductions
By Kerri Testement
The Jackson County
School System is prepar
ing to trim its work force
next school year.
Superintendent Shannon
Adams warned district
employees last week of
a “strong possibility" of
reducing the workforce to
meet the demands of a
leaner budget.
“I deeply regret the fact
that we are in the position
of having to take such mea
sures, but the challenges of
the current financial situa
tion are very real indeed,"
Adams wrote in an e-mail
to district employees.
And facing an uncer
tain financial outlook, the
school system will delay
rehiring teachers for next
school year by a month.
The Georgia General
Assembly announced
Friday it will meet in late
June to finalize the state
budget. Adams said that
will hamper the school sys
tem’s finances.
The school system must
finalize its budget before
the next fiscal year starts
on July 1. The General
Assembly typically ends
its session in March or
April, but has opted to
complete its session in
June — when the state may
know how much of the fed
eral stimulus bill is headed
to Georgia.
“The best we can hope
for is that we’ll know what
the education cut will be,
but I don’t think anything
will be final until they
adjourn," said BOE chair
person Kathy Wilbanks.
While the schools are
working to cut expenses,
Adams said it’s obvious
that the district will be
forced to trim its work
force for the 2009-2010
school year.
‘There will be an official
reduction of some certi
fied personnel and there
will be some reduction of
positions of non-certified
personnel," Adams said
Monday.
The system expects to
have to trim $2.5 million
to $4 million from the bud
get, he added.
“We’ll do it in such a
way that will minimize the
impact on the instruction
program," Adams said.
“We’ll do it in a way that’s
fair to the employees and
the school system (and)
to those who have proven
themselves to be effective
over a period of time."
Wilbanks said there may
also not be enough stu
dents in some classes for
certified positions.
NEED PRINTING?
CALL
706-367-5233