Hardin Co. Schools Cutting 45 Jobs Due To Budget Shortfall
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The Hardin County School District is facing a major budget shortfall next school year, and it is letting 45 employees go – 26 of them teachers. Director of Schools John Thomas said the state cut about $1.5 million of their funding, and he blamed statewide teacher raises and a decrease in enrollment. Stephen Albright’s daughter will be a first grader next year, and she and about 3,700 other students will be impacted by a major budget shortfall. “People who are going to retire, I think that’s just fine, but some of these new people who are coming in, they need to let them stay in, because they’ve done a really good job with my daughter,” Albright said. Thomas told 7 Eyewitness News by phone they are laying off eight teachers and nine support staff. 18 teachers and 10 support staff are retiring, and Thomas said they have no plans to rehire those 45 positions. The school district said the good news is that class sizes will stay the same, but some teachers who teach smaller groups will have to move to regular-size classes. “The children are going to suffer because there won’t be enough teachers to provide a quality education for them and spend the time that they need for each child,” resident Russell Curtis said. “There probably aren’t enough teachers now.” School leaders said they may be losing money for the upcoming school year, but they hope to get some of it back since enrollment has evened out. Albright said he still wishes the school district would have made cuts from other areas before laying off teachers. “I’m quite sure they could find other places to make cuts,” Albright said. Thomas said he hopes there will not be more. The school district will present its budget to the county commission on June 14. Commissioners will then vote on their budget, June 25.
