Schools borrow money to pay teachers

Proration of state education funds for the past two years is forcing the Morgan County School system to use its line of credit to pay teachers this month.
In order to get school personnel their salaries before the Christmas break on Dec. 17, the school board authorized Finance Director Rodger Spillers to borrow some $1 million to $1.5 million from a line of credit to meet December’s payroll.
Spillers reported that not enough money has come in from the State Department of Education to meet the pre-holiday payroll but expects it to be available by the end of the month.
“We would be borrowing the money for only a few days at an estimated 4 percent interest and pay it back as soon as state funds are available,” Spillers said.
Spillers said the school’s system’s reserve fund stands at $1.066 million, or only about 20 percent of the state requirement.
When asked by newcomer board member Jeff McLemore to share ways the system can build up its reserve, the retiring finance directors listed “further reduction of locally funded teacher units, reduction of school nurses, increasing class enrollments, reducing supplements, eliminate travel and reduce costs of maintenance and utilities.”
“It’s a sad time when you start looking at loading up classrooms,” Board Member Carolyn Wallace said. “We’ve made cuts, cuts and more cuts. There’s no place left to cut.”
Superintendent Bob Balch said the state mandates a nurse for each school but only pays half of their salaries.
Crowded classrooms were another issue addressed.
Anne Vest, director of instruction for elementary schools, expressed concern about two schools having overcrowded kindergarten classes.
She reported that two K-1 classes at Cotaco have 23 students each and two classes at Falkville have 24 and 25 each.
“We can’t do a good job with these numbers,” she said. “Parents are telling me classes that large will have a profound effect on the careers of their students. I had hoped that the numbers would drop but they haven’t. I wanted you to know how serious it is and encourage you to put this on your list as a top priority.”