Stephens Co. BOE Abolishes Crossroads, Adds More Calendar Reduction Days to Staff

The ongoing financial crisis within the Stephens County School System is costing the school system the Crossroads program and costing all staff more calendar and work reduction days.

Tuesday, the Stephens County Board of Education voted to both abolish the Crossroads program and eliminate all certified and classified staff positions associated with the program, as well as reducing the school and work calendar for all employees by an additional seven days in this current school year, on top of what was already implemented at the start of the school year.

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey said the problem is one of cash flow.

“In our business, we always deal with a budget forecast of July 1 to June 30 and we know we cannot go below zero (in our fund balance),” said Dorsey. “That gives you an adjustment period. What has happened to us is we went below zero, we have been borrowing basically our ‘max,’ and we have been borrowing it earlier and earlier so that now we cannot make a cash flow jump.”

Stephens County school officials said the system needs about $1 million in local tax revenue each month to go along with other funding sources to make sure that the school system has enough cash on hand to pay all of its bills and obligations.

The majority of that tax revenue comes in during the Fall months.

Meanwhile, almost all of that local tax revenue collected last Fall is already gone, used to both cover expenses in the Fall and pay back the Tax Anticipation Note the school system borrowed last year.

Dorsey said that means the school system will have to borrow again starting in February to cover that $1 million gap until local tax revenue comes in this Fall, meaning the school system expects to borrow $7 million in Tax Anticipation Notes that must be paid back by December 31 with the tax revenue that will be collected.

He said that based on current projections, if no changes are made, the school system would not collect enough tax revenue to both pay back what is borrowed and have enough to make sure the bills could get paid through the end of the calendar year.

Dorsey went on to explain that the school system cannot borrow more than the $7 million it will begin drawing on next month.

As a result, Dorsey said immediate cuts are needed because the school system needs to make sure it has enough time to recoup the cash to get through December.

“If you wait until July 1, there is only one or two months to get all that revenue back,” said Dorsey, citing the way personnel fits into the budget. “It is impossible. We cannot cut enough fast enough at that point to absorb this.”

Dorsey said the goal is to find enough savings to get the school system enough money to cover its costs into the first part of next calendar year, provided everything stays the same.

However, he said if the school system has any financial emergencies like broken equipment or unexpected revenue cuts, finding those savings becomes that much harder.

“We have been put in financial peril,” said Dorsey.

The vote to abolish Crossroads, which eliminates six jobs, and add seven more calendar and work reduction days to all staff, was 6 to 1.

Board of Education member Rodney Moore, Jr. voted against the cuts.

“I did not dispute that cuts are necessary,” he said. “I just did not support these proposed cuts, primarily because I feel like I need some more information, see what other alternatives we have and see how it will affect the students. I am sympathetic to those affected by these cuts.”

Dorsey said that Crossroads, an alternative school program for certain students within the school system that operates during normal school hours, will likely close around the first week of February, if not sooner.

He said those students will then move to a similar environment at their home school.

“Those students will return to their home school and will be an isolated program there, self-contained,” said Dorsey, who called it “Crossroads on Campus.”

The Stephens County Board of Education has also scheduled a called meeting for Thursday at 8 a.m. at the Stephens County School System Administrative Offices on Mize Road to discuss further possible budget reductions.