BY DAN HILDEBRAN
At press time, the Union County School Board was set to vote on a package of budget cuts totaling $1.5 million that would balance its budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year based on current revenue estimates.
The cuts include eliminating 40 jobs, many of which are now unfilled.
The job cuts include 10 from the district’s daycare, Tiger’s Den, 16 teaching positions, seven from student support services, three deans, and several from maintenance and food services.
Finance director Renee Prevatt said the cuts include contracted services, nonrecurring building repairs, textbook purchases, and software licenses.
The finance director also said the district recently learned how to bill Medicaid for mental health counseling services.
Board members Chris Hodgson and Becky Raulerson brought up the issue of cutting more positions from the district office.
Superintendent Mike Ripplinger responded that some district positions, like the district safety director, are mandated by state law. He also said some district personnel do more than one job, citing one example where one person serves as the district’s director of personnel and secondary education.
Prevatt said that in addition to continuing to look for savings in the 2025-2026 budget, she is also eyeing the district’s spending plan for the following year.
She said that although 2025-2026 would be a light year for textbook purchases, the district would have to invest significantly in books the following year. She also warned the board that changes to the state retirement system’s DROP program would increase the district’s retirement costs in future years.
Ripplinger and Prevatt emphasized that the big question mark remaining in the district’s budget is the amount of funding the state will provide for each student, which, at press time, still had not been determined by state lawmakers.
