Copperas Cove School District Budget Cuts are Planned After a Loss in Impact Aid

Copperas Cove ISD will lose about 12 million dollars in federal government funding next year.   To make up for the lost money the district plans to lay off 75 employees, restructure the Pre-K program and shift students from one elementary school to another in the 2014-2015 school year.

In a press release Monday the district explained that the money lost is Heavy Impact Aid which accounts for 16 percent of the district’s revenue.   In order to get that aid, 35 percent of the student population must be military dependents, and that did not happen this year.

Impact Aid paid for a full day of Pre-K, without it Cove plans to use state funding for a half day of school  for the Preschoolers, with Pre-K only at Mae Stevens Elementary School.

Due to the limited enrollment projections for Mae Stevens Elementary, next year that school will only house Pre-K students.   Mae Stevens students in grades K-5 will move to Clements/Parsons Elementary beginning in the fall.

The administration also plans to eliminate teaching and teacher aide positions, as well as support positions at Central Office.  The release says much of this will occur through attrition, the district is offering $500 to staff who submit written resignations by March 17. Early resignations will allows the district more flexibility in making staffing decision.