Aiken schools brace for cuts

For Aiken County's "big three" education programs - the Aiken County School District, USC Aiken and Aiken Technical College - the national economic crisis is producing more of a gusher than a trickle-down effect.

School superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt, USCA Chancellor Dr. Tom Hallman and ATC President Dr. Susan Winsor are bracing for additional mid-year cuts that range from 6 to 10 percent.

S.C. Rep. Roland Smith, R-Warrenville, serves as K-12 subcommittee chairman for the House Ways and Means Committee.

"Hopefully the cuts will be less on K-12 if they are not across the board," he said. "That will be my effort. These are hard budget times and we'll have to make difficult decisions. I'm not really looking forward to it."

USCA is bracing for a possible 7 percent reduction in addition to the 3 percent cut approved this summer - about $1.09 million, said Hallman.

ATC was asked to prepare for an additional 7 to 10 percent reduction, which would cost the college $550,000 to $715,000 in state funding, Winsor said.

Everitt didn't have updated numbers Friday afternoon, but earlier cuts in the fiscal year forced the district to trim about $5 million and the Board of Economic Advisors wants a 6 to 8 percent reduction. The school district caught a break when insurance premiums didn't go up as expected, absorbing some of the three percent cut ordered over the summer. But insurance costs could hit the district even more in 2009-10, Everitt said.

"We can't change class size or contracts and have to have electricity," she said. "We're really scrambling, as we've already made so many cuts at this point. We cut around 70 positions this spring. We may have to look at a hiring freeze."

The revenue shortfalls earlier in the decade eliminated whatever "fat" there was in USCA's budget, said Hallman.

"We don't want to impinge on what we do to facilitate learning," he said. "We can adjust lights and the thermostats, but that won't get what we need. Next week we'll star a series of conversations of various groups on campus to determine what we can do to have the least impact on our primary missions."

When the 3 percent cuts came down, Winsor and her staff were certain that wouldn't be the end of it. They're looking at reducing professional development and travel to conferences and other meetings and putting off significant technology updates. ATC, too, will have to consider freezing open positions.

"As people are laid off," Winsor said, "they will look for retraining, and we would be the ones serving them. Our state office has analyzed this, and 95 percent of those 25 and over are in the technical colleges. We are the place for people to come back to retool their skills or change careers."

The paradox, said Winsor, is that when the technical colleges are needed the most, their resources to provide services are shrinking.

Everitt hopes some mandates, such as class size, will be removed or at least gain flexibility in meeting requirements. She's not specifically recommending cuts in the arts and music. But if those areas have to be reduced, it takes years to get them back to where they were originally.

"We're going to have to look at all programs that are not required," Everitt said. "But those are often the things that keep kids in school."

Hallman said he too will have consider adjustments in class size, tampering with what he regards as the value of a smaller campus.

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.