- Jackson Public Schools is facing a $4 million budget shortfall.
- Expected state funding did not materialize last year, says Superintendent Jeff Beal.
- As many as 35 teaching positions may have to be cut, says Beal.
- WATCH THE VIDEO for Beal's comments and details about the situation.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Closing a $4 million dollar budget shortfall — that is now the challenge in front of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Education — one that may require staff layoffs.
We learned last month that the District is facing a projected budget deficit of more than $4 million this year — a deficit District Superintendent Jeff Beal says results from a state budget that did not provide expected funding.
“We had a Governor's budget that said ‘I want to give you some extra dollars’. We had the House budget that said ‘we want to give you extra dollars’. We had the Senate budget said ‘we're gonna give you extra dollars’. So when we had all three branches of government saying ‘we want to give you extra dollars’, we felt pretty confident that we're going to get a couple extra dollars," Beal told the Board Tuesday. "Well, we didn’t.”
Beal confirmed that the District has about $20 million in reserve. He said that reserve can get depleted very quickly if multimillion dollar deficits aren’t fixed.
Beal said that because 85% of the District’s budget goes to staff, balancing this budget means putting staff cuts on the table — 35 teaching positions, to be exact.
A voluntary severance policy is on the table to allow for that.
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