CLINTON, Iowa -
Clinton's school district is one of the city's largest employers. With about 750 jobs and a $40 million budget, it's a major player in Clinton County. But as Iowa imposes a 10% across the board cut, it's hitting the district with difficult decisions about jobs and programs.
The first layoff is striking Washington Middle School. A business office supervisor will be lost. And with money troubles, it won't be the last cut.
"That's huge," said Dr. Richard Basden, Clinton's superintendent. "We had no warning it was coming. We thought there might be across the board cuts for schools at 3%, maybe 5%, not 10%."
But the mandatory 10% cut forces Clinton schools to slice more than $2.1 million from its budget. Money that will be subtracted from state payments. And Clinton families worry about the impact.
"It will be tough for them," said Karen Burns, a Clinton grandma. "They're pretty good at budgeting usually. But I've got a daughter in law who works in the school system. Everyone's kind of iffy right now."
With just $500,000 in reserve, it isn't enough to cover the cuts. That means the district will face decisions over larger class sizes and fewer teachers.
"I don't think that would be a good idea because they already have so many kids in the class," said parent Jodie Zastrow. "Some classes do need the help."
According to Dr. Basden, the financial situation will be even worse during the next school year. That's when Clinton schools must brace to lose another $4 million dollars in state cuts."
"It is a lot of bucks," said Clinton parent Larry Stauffer. "It's going to be hard to recover from that. Hopefully, we won't lose any teachers."
For a school district already doing more with less, administrators must consider decisions that have the least impact on learning.
"We have to keep in mind that our first priority is academic," Dr. Basden said. "It's student achievement, student improvement. That's number one. Everything else has to be secondary."
Secondary, as schools wonder what's next.
The first layoff is striking Washington Middle School. A business office supervisor will be lost. And with money troubles, it won't be the last cut.
"That's huge," said Dr. Richard Basden, Clinton's superintendent. "We had no warning it was coming. We thought there might be across the board cuts for schools at 3%, maybe 5%, not 10%."
But the mandatory 10% cut forces Clinton schools to slice more than $2.1 million from its budget. Money that will be subtracted from state payments. And Clinton families worry about the impact.
"It will be tough for them," said Karen Burns, a Clinton grandma. "They're pretty good at budgeting usually. But I've got a daughter in law who works in the school system. Everyone's kind of iffy right now."
With just $500,000 in reserve, it isn't enough to cover the cuts. That means the district will face decisions over larger class sizes and fewer teachers.
"I don't think that would be a good idea because they already have so many kids in the class," said parent Jodie Zastrow. "Some classes do need the help."
According to Dr. Basden, the financial situation will be even worse during the next school year. That's when Clinton schools must brace to lose another $4 million dollars in state cuts."
"It is a lot of bucks," said Clinton parent Larry Stauffer. "It's going to be hard to recover from that. Hopefully, we won't lose any teachers."
For a school district already doing more with less, administrators must consider decisions that have the least impact on learning.
"We have to keep in mind that our first priority is academic," Dr. Basden said. "It's student achievement, student improvement. That's number one. Everything else has to be secondary."
Secondary, as schools wonder what's next.
