Several school districts across the state are having to make cuts before the upcoming school year after the state legislature approved a 1.25 percent State Supplemental Aid and Governor Terry Branstad vetoed million dollars in one-time spending for schools.

Perry Schools Superintendent Lynn Ubben says fortunately, they have not had to eliminate positions, thanks to conservative planning.

“We made the cuts we needed to when we had the (10 percent) across the board cuts (in 2009).  One of the legislators talked about the unspent balances being larger, well they are because districts went through that and they don’t want to go through that (again), myself included.  When you have to deliver pink slips, when you have to constantly tell people no because you don’t have the funding, then you want to see what you can do to at least be able to do some things and not have to reduce staff.”

So for now, Ubben says the District continues to do okay financially.

“There may come a time when we don’t have that option anymore but at this point in time we have done, and our Board has always been supportive, of doing a good job of managing what we have and being a little conservative knowing that, here we go again.”

Nonetheless, Ubben says she’s still disappointed in the Governor’s decision to veto the one-time funding as she feels it contradicts Iowa’s goal of having world class schools.