(Spirit Lake)– A 10 percent across-the-board cut in state funding mandated last week by Governor Chet Culver as a result of a revenue shortfall is hitting some local school districts especially hard.
Spirit Lake is among them. Superintendent David Smith tells KUOO news the cut in state funding will amount to about 556-thousand dollars. The money needs to be trimmed from the current fiscal year’s budget, or by June 30th.
Just how that will be done has yet to be determined. Smith is hopeful they’ll be able to cover most of it through cash reserves, but as of right now he says all options are on the table.
Smith says Spirit Lake is in a better position to handle the cuts than a lot of schools thanks to careful budgeting over the past couple of years.
The board will further discuss the budget at a workshop October 28th.
