Tombstone Superintendent Karl Uterhardt is preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best as state legislators decide the future of Arizona’s education system with pending cuts to funding.

So far the Arizona State Legislature has made no decisions, but Uterhardt is expecting budget cuts ranging from 6 to 9 percent of TUSD’s $6.5 million budget for this fiscal year. Nine percent is equivalent to a $420,000 cut of the maintenance and operations budget used predominantly for teacher salaries and benefits.

"We are currently working on a plan and, unlike our state, I don’t think we can cut our way to freedom,” Uterhardt said. “I don’t think that it’s possible to do and still give a quality education.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Arizona spent just over $9.5 billion on education during the 2006-2007 school year – 20 percent less than the national average of more than $11 billion.

“We want to do what’s right financially but we also want to do what is right by our kids,” Uterhardt said. “I want the best education we can have for our kids and you can’t just cut, cut, cut, and get rid of programs. It’s not the way to go. … You aren’t helping your kids out.”

Cuts in the district are inevitable. Last year, TUSD avoided major reductions as it received more than $200,000 in federal stimulus funds that covered its budget deficit. The new fiscal year starts in July 2010 and TUSD is likely to look dramatically different.

At a November staff meeting Uterhardt called upon staff members to discuss ideas to save money within the district. More than 150 ideas were presented but the most prevalent were going to a four-day school week, salary cuts and the closing of Walter J. Meyer Elementary School.

“Not that any of this is going to happen right now,” Uterhardt said.

“It’s an idea that was discussed and it would be prudent for us to discuss this and I think we would be financially irresponsible if we didn’t discuss the possibilities.”

A four-day school week would cut out Friday class and would extend the other days of the week by more than an hour, a measure Bisbee Unified School District took this fiscal year.

Also discussed was the possible closure of Walter J. Meyer Elementary School in Tombstone.

Nearly 200 displaced students, ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, would be bused to Huachuca City Elementary located 24 miles away. Some teachers and staff would also be relocated. Over the past few years the student population at Walter J. Meyer has decreased while it has increased at Huachuca City.

So far TUSD has not laid off any in its teaching staff, but the district has left some vacant positions open by shifting around the workload.

Everything in the district will remain the same for the time being as administrators wait for a state decision, but a resolution is nowhere in sight.

“The problem that we have, and this is every district in Arizona, is that (state legislators) will not tell us what’s going on,” Uterhardt said.

“We can plan for cuts, but tell us what you are doing and give us some time,” he said. “Don’t tell us in May. Give us some time to work and we can come up with a solution for our own individualized districts.”

Right now Uterhardt is going off of speculation and proposed cuts, but until a final decision is made at the state level the future for TUSD staff and students remain in limbo.

“It’s very frustrating for me to not have that information because then we can estimate. I’ve heard numbers and I don’t know if they are real…we’ll see what happens,” Uterhardt said.