Several school systems in our area have already announced making cuts in support staff. Demopolis City Schools announced cutting three positions and not filling a fourth for someone who resigned earlier this month. Marengo County Schools is likley to cut some personnel. Tuscaloosa County Schools announced cuts affecting 71 support staff members.

No system wants to make personnel cuts. It is the faculty and staff that make a school system successful.

Demopolis City Schools superintendent Dr. L. Wayne Vickers said there are other possibilities in helping school systems get by during these prorated months, including lowering the number of school days from 180 to 175. Other harsher methods include changing the divisors for teachers and classified employees.

No matter how you slice it, the schools are just now feeling the waves from an oncoming hurricane. The 2009-10 budget looks bleak, and while the school systems are fighting letting teachers go, it may be the last-gasp effort to work within the prorated budget.

We wish the school systems well in finding better ways to weather the storm.