Cottonwood school district down by 24 students

As schools settle in for the year, everyone is concerned over the economy and further cuts to the budget. Bob Lowden, the Superintendent for the Cottonwood Union School District, is feeling the pinch and so is the district.

"We had already anticipated being down in our enrollment numbers, but we are still twenty-four students short of where we had hoped to be," said Lowden of the reported attendance numbers for the district.

The number may seem small, twenty-four, however, viewing the average of $5,000 per student in the district due to ADA (average daily attendance), it's a hefty loss. ADA is how the state determines the amount of funding a school district receives per child, which is dependent on relocation, dropouts, and illness.

"We lost over $100,000 by not having those kids in our district and that's a big hit to the budget," said Lowden.

The economy isn't helping things any. Relocation is the solution for some people due to job loss or foreclosure on their home, which plays a part with the lower attendance numbers throughout the district. To add to people relocating, the state budget cuts are another problem facing the district.

"We prepared for the severe cuts when they were first announced in February, but then when the budget was slashed again in May, we had to scramble a little more because we were not prepared for that," said Lowden of the state's budget cuts.

Even though the budget for the district was slashed severely, they have not had to cut any of their programs, but they are not staffed to where Lowden said he would like them to be. Due to federal stimulus money, special education did not face any budget cuts. The district was also able to bring back two teachers for the 2009/2010 school year with the federal stimulus money, however, Lowden says this is a temporary solution and is hoping the economy will stabilize soon.