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Highlands Today

Schools Cope With Budget Cuts

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: July 29, 2008

SEBRING - Lake Placid Elementary School teachers will be doing without some of the extras in the classroom this upcoming school year, such as FCAT practice materials and new materials for struggling readers.

Principal Carole Disler said Monday that despite the budget cut, "the students will have what they need and the teachers will have what they need."

Due to state funding cuts, Highlands County School District's individual school budgets were cut 5 percent for the 2008-'09 year.

The materials the reading intervention teacher used with struggling third-graders were very expensive and won't be ordered this year, Disler said. FCAT practice materials will not be purchased, but there are online study guides that can be used instead.

"We are just going to have to be more creative in how we are meeting the needs of those students rather than purchasing things from our budget because we don't have it," she said.

Fundraisers can help, but elementary schools are limited to two major fundraisers each year.

"With the economic situation the way it is, I'm not anticipating that we are going to get a windfall through our two fundraisers," Disler said.

The main fundraising project last year paid for laptop computers for the third- fourth- and fifth-grade teachers. Disler hopes to get laptops this year for her kindergarten, first- and second-grade teachers. Also, teachers will no longer go out of town for training conferences, she said.
Avon Park Middle Principal Dan Johnson said, "Even though we took a cut, we tried to cut in other areas other than the classroom. We tried to preserve the teacher, their supply money and all the support that goes to them."

Staff and administration travel is being cut at the school, too.

"Even as an administrator I'm cutting back," Johnson said. "I don't do a lot of travel anyway, but what little I do will probably be non-existent this coming year just to help cut the budget."

Avon Elementary Principal Pam Burnham is trying to shave off a little bit in every area so that it doesn't hit any one area hard.

She's being more conservative with things and tightening up.

"I don't anticipate that it will make any difference in instruction at all and student achievement," Burnham added.

Budgets were cut 10 percent in each of the district office departments.

Mike Averyt, assistant superintendent of business operations, said the transportation department was exempted due to increased fuel costs. Some areas of the budget can't be cut such as electricity and insurance, he added.

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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