5 percent salary cuts at HPSD

Classified employees in the financially troubled Hattiesburg Public School District will be subject to a 5 percent salary cut for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year, according to a letter sent Thursday by interim Superintendent Greg Ladner.

Ladner sent out additional letters on the cuts Friday to the approximately 390 individuals affected.

Classified jobs include such positions as custodial, maintenance, secretarial, technical, teacher assistant and transportation.

Ladner also notified approximately 15 classified staff Friday that they would be laid off.

He said the moves should save the district about $200,000.

Thursday's letter suggested there would be more cost-cutting to come.

"There are many additional things in the plans," the letter read. "We understand that any reduction or lay-off impacts our employees and their families in a very real way. ... We all wish that our situation did not make these plans necessary."

Ladner has made clear employees such as teachers and administrators will also have to make sacrifices once their contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

He has taken a salary reduction from $130,000 to $120,000 a year.   His predecessor, James Bacchus, made $165,000 annually.

HPSD employees notified of salary and job cuts

The district’s financial woes were first brought to light when Bacchus resigned in December after nearly five years with the district.

In a letter to School Board President Marcus Cathey, Bacchus attributed his leaving to an unanticipated deficit in the 2015-16 budget.

Shortly after Bacchus left, business manager Terry Stennis also resigned.

The district has been operating on a fund balance of about $768,000. It has also taken out a Tax Anticipation Note of $7 million, which it anticipates repaying.

District officials have not said how the fund balance became so depleted, instead saying they preferred to focus on the future.

State officials have now become involved in the district's finances.

On Jan. 21, state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright sent a letter to State Auditor Stacey Pickering saying a review by two education department staff members concluded the district would end the fiscal year with a deficit in its general fund.

“Furthermore, this preliminary review determines that the district may actually deplete all available cash at some point during the current fiscal year and be unable to pay current obligations, to include payroll,” the letter said.

The letter requested that the Office of the State Auditor immediately investigate the district’s financial affairs. A spokeswoman for the office said a task force had been at the district to evaluate the financial situation and to make sure it was sustainable for the future.

In addition to the salary cuts and layoffs, Ladner has also suspended raises that would normally be given when administrators advance their degrees.

"These pieces are the first phase of a long-range plan to ensure the financial stability of the district," Ladner said in the letter.

Interim chief financial officer Sheryle Coaker said the district needs to cut another approximately $800,000 just to keep the fund balance steady.

"We want to try to keep it where it is," she said. "It's going to be very difficult to grow it this year. If we can maintain it, we can grow it in the next several years."