(Spirit Lake)– Iowa’s growing budget problems have local school districts preparing for the possibility of more budget cuts.
State Senator Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg says the additional cuts would be substantial. For example, he says Spirit Lake could be faced with an additional 86-thousand in cuts; Okoboji would have to trim an additional 61-thousand; Harris-Lake Park 24-thousand; Terril 14-thousand; Spencer 184-thousand; Clay Central-Everly 37-thousand dollars; Ruthven-Ayrshire 25-thousand; Emmetsburg 69-thousand and Graettinger 24-thousand dollars.
Spirit Lake Superintendent Tim Grieves says the additional 86-thousand dollars in cuts his district could sustain would probably result in the elimination of some staff. So far, he says they’ve been able to do that through attrition.
Aggravating matters is the fact that school districts can’t even prepare budgets for the upcoming school year. Grieves says the legislature has reneged on its January 15th deadline for issuing school payments for the upcoming year.
