January 17, 2017
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
The next six months will continue to be tough for Oklahoma public schools as school districts keep receiving cuts in their state aid.
Elk City School Superintendent Rick Garrison says the cuts seem to be coming one after another. He says schools, state-wide, received a mid-term adjustment reduction at the end of last semester and another came last week.
Garrison says it’s probably the look of things to come.
Garrison says now that the state and national elections are behind us, more cuts, now may follow with legislators and bureaucrats finding it easier to cut aid without having to weather a looming campaign for reelection.
Garrison says Elk City Public Schools have seen recent budgets around the $14-million-dollar mark. Now, with reductions in state aid, it’s more like $13.2 – representing about an 8% reduction – and more cuts are expected within the next six months.
Garrison adds that he feels fortunate to be at Elk City, because a number of school districts aren’t near as fortunate with their budget revenue as Elk City is.
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