EASLEY – At least two members of the school board predicted this week that personnel cuts are likely as they face a $3.5 million deficit in state funding.

Shirley Jones, an at-large member, said she has no idea what Dr. Mendel Stewart’s proposed budget cuts will be at Monday night’s meeting. But she said it will be very difficult at this point to save jobs, especially since even more cuts are likely.

“We will do our best to save as many jobs as we can,” she said.

Jones said dealing with the cuts was a big responsibility, one she takes very seriously.

“We need to make sure we’re not diluting instruction for students or overburdening teachers,” she said.

Alex Saitta, who represents the Pickens area, agrees that personnel cuts are on the horizon.

“I believe the reductions should be confined to non-classroom accounts,” he said. “I made such a motion last time around, and it failed.

According to Saitta, that approach will eliminate wasteful spending, plug the deficits and protect classroom expenses from being cut. And he hopes the board as a whole will take this approach Monday.

But what caused the funding shortfall?

Jones blames the sales tax swap.

“Our state legislators need to admit it was a mistake to go with only sales taxes,” she said.

She said while Act 388 would allow the district to raise property taxes on the local level, she doubts that will happen.

“That just puts the monkey back on locals’ backs,” she said.

Saitta, on the other hand, blames the district’s current plight on what he considers out-of-control growth.

“Too much spending and hiring in the good times is coming back to bite the district,” he said. “A couple of years ago, I remember voting against the budget because employment growth was greater than student enrollment growth.”

He also said unless the economy rebounds, the situation could be bleak next year as well.

Like Jones, Saitta also addressed Act 388.

It has a millage cap that would only allow the board to raise taxes 1 or 2 mills, he said.

“Plus, the value of the mill has fallen to $270,000, so even if the majority votes for the maximum tax increase for next year, it won’t yield much revenue,” he said.

Saitta also said it would be dangerous for the board to continue drawing down its savings account.

“It’ll drop below 10 percent at some point, and the bond rating agencies could downgrade us,” he said.

He said using the “Greenville Plan” to finance the district’s building program makes this issue critical.

“The way the Greenville Plan is structured, the district has to borrow every year to make its debt payment,” he said. “If the district runs its savings account down, and the rating agencies downgrade us, interest costs could make this building plan much more expensive.

“Putting this all together, I think the best solution is to make permanent reductions in spending,” Saitta said.

Jones said she hopes the governor will accept some federal bailout money and put some of it toward education “so people can keep their jobs and we can continue to move forward in educating our children.

“It’s quite a scary time for our state and our nation, and unfortunately kids come last,” she said.

Stewart was out of town and unable to comment on the plan he is expected to present to the board Monday night.

The board will meet in executive session at 6 p.m., and the regular public meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Curtis A. Sidden Administrative Office on Griffin Mill Road.