Brookhaven and Lincoln County school officials are facing crunchtime following an order last week to cut state public educationfunds.

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove’s order to cut public education funds,along with other areas, presents school officials a grim outlookfor students and teachers.

According to the state’s plans, the Lincoln County SchoolDistrict is facing a budget cut of roughly $330,000 this fiscalyear, which ends June 30, and $500,000 next year, while theBrookhaven School District is looking at a $310,000 cut this yearand $645,000 next year.

“I hope people realize the impact of the cuts. It’s reallydisastrous for public education in the state of Mississippi,” saidBrookhaven Superintendent of Education Dr. Sam Bounds.

The statewide public education cuts, totaling $53.4 million, arepart of a $116.8 million budget cut plan to help make up a taxrevenue shortfall that already has reached $158 million as a resultof the slumping economy.

Because the two local public school districts have been able tosave a cushion for emergencies, they will not suffer this year asbadly as some school districts in the state that are possiblyfacing a budget deficit at the end of the fiscal year.

“If we’re careful between now and the end of the school year, wewill end with a positive cash balance,” said Lincoln CountySuperintendent of Education Perry Miller.

However, local education officials know the saved funds will notlast through the next fiscal year, leaving them searching for waysto battle the budget cuts next year.

The first area that both local school districts are looking atas a way to decrease expenditures is employees, which make up themajority of expenses for school districts.

“Employees are under contract and by law we can’t void acontract this fiscal year and cut them,” Miller said. “But if wesustain the $500,000 cut next year, there is a reality of personnelcuts.”

Bounds agreed, saying that was the most logical way to approachthe budget cuts, but it would affect the quality of educationbecause students would receive less individualized attention.

Other avenues the districts are considering include cuttingsupply expenses and terminating some of the classes.

“Courses will have to be eliminated from our curriculum, likethings that are not required to be taught,” said Miller.

Some of the courses the superintendents mentioned were TechPrep, advanced math, athletic programs, choir, music, speech,drama, driver’s education and advanced science.

Another way the districts could offset the budget cuts would beto raise taxes, something neither of the local superintendents werein favor of as a top choice.

“We don’t want to do that. Why should we turn around and putthem (taxpayers) in a bind to offset what the state hasn’t done,”asked Bounds.

Other possibilities include going to a four-day school week,which would cut down on utility, employee and transportation costs,or finding alternative sources of money through fundraisers.

“At this point, we will entertain all suggestions of ways toraise additional revenue to support our education system,” saidMiller.

Miller and Bounds hope that it will not come to taking suchdrastic measures just to ensure the children in Mississippi haveadequate education opportunities.

“I do hope that the legislature, in their wisdom, will look andstudy and scrape for ways to fund public education,” said Bounds.”We have 500,000 students in public education in the state ofMississippi, and we’re turning our backs on them if we don’t fundpublic education.”