JACKSONVILLE —

Budget shortfalls for the state are leading to possible cuts in some of the high-dollar items the state supports, including public education, and Jacksonville Independent School District officials are already planning for a worst-case scenario.

JISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell said based on projections, JISD’s upcoming budget could be cut by anywhere from $2.7 million to $4.3 million.

“We’ve been told the state is probably $10 billion short, but the state has not told us what to do to deal with these cuts, and probably won’t until special session,” he said.

Currently, the Texas Legislature is dealing with the sticky subject of redistricting — done the session following a census.

“Last time, 10 years ago, it took them the entire session to finish redistricting,” Wardell said. “They didn’t deal with budgetary items until the following special sessions.”

Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) said he does not think this redistricting attempt will be as lengthy as the one 10 years ago, when Repub-licans acted as a majority in the House and drew district lines in order to reflect the state’s conservative tastes.

Nichols said he predicts a more bi-partisan process this time around in the redistricting process, which should lead to less time spent on redrawing the state’s district lines than 10 years ago.

“I just don’t see that happening this time,” he said.

But when it comes to the state budget, Nichols said that while the numbers the Texas comptroller has given the House and Senate to build proposed budgets with are grim, he expects an upcoming comptroller update using more recent figures will help bring the state’s budget up a bit.

With recent rises in both state sales tax revenue and the price of oil, Nichols said he is optimistic about how much the budget could rise.

“We’re still very early in the process, and these are base budgets. They’re starting points,” he said. “I’m optimistic that as we move through the session, we will get an update from the comptroller. I think there is good reason to be optimistic, because if you look at the numbers of revenue dedicated to education, like the price of oil, there is an increase (since the last comptroller projection).”

He cited, as an example, the recent costs of oil per barrel. Current comptroller projections are based on an $80-per-barrel price, but the price has recently risen to about $90-per-barrel.

But despite what may be good news for the state’s budget, Nichols said the budgetary process is still going to be “rough and tough”.

Using the information at hand, the JISD Board of Trustees will meet in special session Tuesday to prepare for a possible loss of 8 to 15 percent of the district’s $35 million annual budget.

“The Tuesday meeting is for me to share information with the Board and then to look at what’s out there,” Wardell said. “We’re going to go ahead and make a plan to do some cuts in our budget.”

Meetings with all of the district’s directors and principals have already taken place, asking for them to look at their individual parts of JISD’s budget and come back with suggestions of where cuts can be made, he said.

“I think it’s very important for us to go out and tell them where we stand,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to show up and be surprised. I think it’s important they know what’s going on along the way.”

Several factors make budget cuts particularly difficult in JISD, though.

Wardell said he has already been told the pre-K grant the district relies on from the state has been cut.

“That grant paid for half a day of pre-K, so we’ll have to cut our pre-K down to just half a day,” he said. “They have told us that grant is gone.”

He said the state technology grant that provides the district with about $30 per student was also eliminated.

“That money goes to maintain our servers, our hardware needs,” he said. “Those are things we’re going to have to have.”

The state mandates that technology be used in instruction, in fact.

JISD is already on the low end of the scale in terms of how many state dollars it receives per student — its number sits at less than $5,000 per pupil, placing it in the bottom 10 percent of districts statewide in terms of how much money it gets from the state.

“There is no equality at all in the amounts districts receive,” Wardell said. “It’s based on what you spent in 2005-2006 school year.”

He explained the target revenue system the state bases current allocations of money for districts was put in place about four years ago as a temporary measure to budget for public education.

Essentially, if a district spent more during that year, it receives more funds now, Wardell said. However, if a district was frugal and saved money that school year, it receives fewer dollars.

“There are really three important things that need to happen,” he said. “No. 1, I would hope they would not cut education. No. 2, I think they should consider using the rainy day fund (about $9 billion) to offset this shortfall. And No. 3,  They’ve got to get away from a target revenue system and come up with something that is more equitable.”

Nichols said that even before the budget process has started, Senate Finance Committee Chair Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) has announced the school financing system will be examined.

“He has said we are going to have to address how school financing works,” Nichols said.

He said he believes education dollars should be more equitably distributed across the state.

“Children should not be educated based on their zip code. Anytime anyone asks me what we’re doing that is important, I always tell them education is always No. 1,” he said. “The current generation has an obligation like no other to educate the future generation.”

For now, though, JISD faces what could be a bleak financial outlook.

Wardell was quick to state that JISD has always been extremely frugal, getting the most out of every budgeted dollar as possible for the benefit of its students.

“We’ve been extremely efficient,” he said. “Forever, Jacksonville has been a leader in education and a leader in finance. Lindy Finley (assistant superintendent of finance and operations) is excellent at her job, but Judy Terry (assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum) also plays a big role in it too.

“They make sure we focus on what are the right things for the kids.”

Jacksonville received the highest Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) rating possible this year, in fact, which measures student performance vs. district spending per student. It was only one of 43 districts in the state to receive the five-star rating.

“That alone shows we have done great and do it on already limited dollars,” Wardell said.

But even with massive cuts in its supplies budget, the district could still not offset the projected amount it will lose.

“If all supplies in the district were cut 20 percent, that’s only $200,000,” he said. “Eighty-five percent of our budget is in personnel.

“To make a significant difference, you have to cut personnel. It comes down to cutting programs and people.”

He said the district will begin scrutinizing positions that become vacant very closely to decide whether rehiring is essential, and already it has filled some positions that were vacated with temporary personnel, costing the district less money than a full-time, permanent replacement.

“If I’m a district like Dallas, I can be handed a list of positions and make cuts,” he said. “In our case, we’re going to end up with a list, but in our case, every position on that list has a name and a face with it. In our kind of case, it makes it very difficult.”

The JISD Board of Trustees will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the JISD Administration Building, 1547 Pine St., to discuss what the future may hold for the district’s budget.