Desoto County Schools Deal with Budget Cuts

DESOTO COUNTY-- Deep cuts to Mississippi's state budget mean less money for DeSoto County schools, but the pain may not match the price tag.

Governor Haley Barbour says he's trimming an additional $170 million from the state's $6 billion budget.

The DeSoto County Schools superintendent says this means a $6 million reduction in state funding, but he says parents should not expect any major changes.

“It's official now. The governor made the announcement Thursday. We did get cut 5%” says Milton Kuykendall.

It's a cut that Superintendent Kuykendall says the DeSoto County school district can live with now, but not forever.

“If we continue to have cuts and there's talk that there will be further cuts, then we all could feel some pain” says Kuykendall.

Currently, Kuykendall says the district is pain-free. These state cuts apply to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which has add-on's in special education, alternative education and transportation.


However, Kuykendall says there's nothing on the chopping block and no jobs will be lost.

“We tried to plan our budget and plan our school year as if this money did not exist” says Kuykendall.

Kuykendall admits the district did have to juggle some of its own money and tap into its reserve funds. For now, he says parents should not be able to tell any differences.


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