The Arkansas education board has placed the Pulaski County Special School District in fiscal distress.
District officials explained Monday that expenditures for next school year will exceed revenues by more than $13 million. The district has identified more than $6 million in cost reductions but needs to find $7 million to cut.
The state took over the district last year because of financial irregularities, but Monday’s move was a further step. Acting district superintendent Jerry Guess says he plans to ask the two unions that represent workers to help work out the $7 million in cuts.
Guess says some teachers and other staffers will likely lose their jobs and benefits will have to be cut.
The school district is the third-largest in the state with more than 17,000 students.