In small school districts like the one in Union Parish, the word surplus is rarely used.
"In our situation here, budget is always a yearly problem. Our fund balance is usually pretty low and by low, I mean $600,000 to $700,000 a year which is not nearly sufficient but it carries us through," said Union Parish School District superintendent, Steven Dozier.
Coming to the rescue was $653,000 allocated to the district that was part of a job stimulus grant approved by congress in august.
That money, is no longer coming.
"The big problem is, money was promised, and it's not being delivered," District 15 Representative, Frank Hoffmann told NBC 10 News.
Now it's back to the drawing board for superintendent, Steven Dozier, as he faces the reality of losing jobs in the district.
"We will probably be just fine, but again, we'll have to cut some positions. We will see if we want to do that or live within our budget but it's going to be extremely tight and we have to see if we can make that work," said Dozier.
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, the district will focus on putting students first.
"We're going to keep progressing, we're going to keep putting money in education, and that's what it is. We will do the best we can," Dozier told NBC 10 reporter, Erik Wheater.
