Decatur School District Cuts $7.4M from Budget, 77 Jobs

Public schools in Decatur are set to lose 77 jobs because of $7.4 million in budget cuts that have been approved by the Board of Education.

The cuts, approved Tuesday, include 36 teachers and 17 teaching assistants. The other job losses are in administrative, clerical, maintenance and custodial positions.

Todd Covault, director of business affairs for the school district, blames the cuts on reductions in state and federal funding as well as the recession's effect on property values, which lowered the tax revenue used by the district.

The Decatur Herald & Review reports that some of the positions will be trimmed by not replacing retiring employees.

Superintendent Gloria Davis says no one is happy with the cuts and warns the situation "probably won't get better next year.''