Published: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 / Updated: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 07:58 AM

Rock Hill schools plan ahead

Rock Hill schools are planning for tough times.

Calling it a “worst-case scenario,” Superintendent Lynn Moody on Monday ticked off a list of spending cuts that could be necessary when federal stimulus money runs out, including not replacing teacher assistants after they leave, eliminating elective classes with low enrollment and canceling the first day of school for sixth- and ninth-graders who attend a day before other students to get familiar with their campuses.

Moody laid out the possible cuts during a Rock Hill school board meeting during which she presented the final draft of a plan for how the district expects to manage in two years, when the stimulus money runs out.

“We tried to be practical, fair and realistic,” Moody said. “Hopefully, (the plan) won't have to be fully operational.”

Some of the measures are expected to begin next year.

For example, the district plans to lose 46 teaching positions over the next two summers by not replacing teachers who leave. Also, all employee salaries and supplements will be frozen.

The $8.8 million dollars in federal money coming in this school year and next is intended to help the district weather cuts in state money. The school board, worried about what would happen when that money runs out, asked Moody to come up a plan that would prepare the district for the 2011-2012 school year.

The plan also includes these other measures:

Leaving positions unfilled.

Scrutinizing closely the status of staff employed by a letter of agreement. Such employees include working retirees.

Requiring letter-of-agreement employees to obtain insurance through the state retirement system starting next school year.

Eliminating employee overtime, unless deemed a superintendent-approved emergency.

It's not clear how much money the district expects to save through the cuts listed in the plan. It's early still and more state cuts, such as the 4 percent drop announced last month, might be on the horizon.

Even the infusion of federal cash hasn't been enough to protect the district from the steady decline in state tax revenue, which accounts for about half of Rock Hill schools' revenue.

To make up for a roughly $3.5 million shortfall, the district has required employees to take unpaid leave, frozen salaries, trimmed employee travel and cut schools' budgets.

“There are too many variables to be certain now how things will play out,” Moody said.

But one thing the plan does is give the district time to cut positions slowly through attrition. That might prevent layoffs in the future, Moody said.

To be sure, she added: “At some point, South Carolina must address the lack of adequate funding for public education.”