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School district facing nearly
$900,000 in budget cuts
Published Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
The Alcorn School District faces an almost $900,000 cut in state revenue under spending cuts announced recently by Governor Haley Barbour, but district officials say they believe they will be able to absorb the reduction without impacting education.
Director of Finance Angi Wilhite told school board members on Tuesday the district will see a cut of $875,258 in Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding, along with an additional $20,521 in other state funds under the governor’s budget cuts.
Superintendent Stacy Suggs said the district’s 2009-2010 budget was created with an expectation that cuts of this type could happen and they are prepared to deal with the reduction in revenue. He said the cuts will force the district to slow down its progress in some areas, including paying off its tax anticipation note.
Wilhite said the $3.5 million loan comes due at the end of October and they expect to pay off $1.5 million of the debt and refinance the remaining $2 million with the goal of paying off the remaining balance next October.
Suggs said they had originally hoped to pay off as much as $1.8 million of the loan but the state budget cuts have forced them to reduce that number.
Board members also focused on dress code issues during Tuesday’s meeting after a pair of issues were raised regarding the policy.
Parent Vickie Pruitt said she is concerned about the provision in the dress code requiring all students to have their shirts tucked in. The change was made in response to worries about the potential for weapons to be hidden under baggy, untucked shirts.
Pruitt said she understands the security concerns and believes the policy is appropriate when it applies to shirts designed to be tucked in, but should not apply to women’s tops in styles that aren’t meant to be tucked in. She also said larger students can have a problem purchasing shirts large enough or long enough to comfortably tuck in and forcing them to tuck in their shirts can draw more attention to their size and make them self-conscious.
Later in the meeting, board member Carroll Morton said he would like to hear more about the dress code issue and parents’ specific concerns at the next board meeting and asked any parent with issues about the policy to come to the meeting with specifics on how the policy could be adjusted while maintaining the intent of the original policy regarding security.
Board member Gary Wren also suggested bringing the principals into the discussion to allow the board to understand their position and what they would like the policy to accomplish.
“I don’t want to abandon this policy, but we could sure use some suggestions,” said Morton.
Board member Dr. Linda Brooks also suggested changing the district’s dress code policy to reflect that it applies to all school-sponsored events, not just the academic day. Brooks said she had received several calls from parents about male students at a recent football game who were not wearing shirts and had their bodies painted in support of their team. Confusion had arisen over whether the dress code applied to this situation.
After a brief discussion, board members agreed to direct board attorney James Price to change the policy to indicate it applies to all school sponsored events.
Suggs also discussed changes being made to the district’s curriculum to better help students succeed on increasingly difficult state tests. He said there is a districtwide effort underway to increase the difficulty of classroom testing and requirements to prepare students to do better on the state tests.
The superintendent said he has heard some negative feedback about the higher expectations and encourages everyone in the district to work together to make the effort work because it is in the best interests of the students.
