by John Cuoco
WACO- The battle over the Texas budget has officially hit Waco in a bad way.
Friday Waco ISD announced at least 200 employees, most of them teachers, will not receive a contract for the 2011-2012 school year.
Dr. Bonny Cain told News Channel 25 that she was hoping to avoid having to cut positions, she said she was thinking attrition, and other cost saving ideas would take care of this.
According to Cain, having to make this announcement is the hardest thing she's had to do in her 34 year career in education.
"You're talking about people with families, with bills, with dreams," she said. "People who had part of their lives planned out."
The massive staff cuts have to be made in the face of an $8 million district shortfall. All while the state fights it's own multi-billion dollar deficit.
The recommendation to make the cuts does not include math, science, bilingual, or special education.
The district said they hope to rehire most the teachers affected if the funding outlook improves. They expect to hire back around 92 to 93 percent of the staff they lose.
The school board to will consider the recommendation at a special meeting this coming Wednesday.
Even though a lot of uncertainty remains about school funding, the district was forced to make the move because of an April 18 deadline. Law requires public schools to give an employee written notice with regard to contract termination 45 days prior to the last day of instruction.
In February, Killeen ISD announced it would be making similar cuts, about 200 jobs. Killeen is a bigger district than Waco. The reason for the similarity in the cuts, despite Waco being a smaller district comes down to money.
According to Dr. Cain every school district has a budget revenue, if a district has more money there, then they can spend more per student, making them a richer district.
