Baldwin Co. Schools to cut 180 jobs

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. - The Baldwin County School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to eliminate roughly 180 support positions.

Superintendent Faron Hollinger says the cuts will save about $5 million.

"We're required to balance the budget and that's a number we have to arrive at the 5 million dollars," he said.

$9 million still needs to be trimmed for the upcoming fiscal year, following these cuts.

"The decisions we've made over the last two years are some of the most painful I've ever had to make," Hollinger said.

In all, the school system cut about 650 positions in that time frame.

Hollinger says its his hope, many can be hired back as the economy improves.

"When I say that I want to emphasize the word hope. We're dealing with a volatile situation day to day and week to week," he said.

No teaching positions were involved in the cuts and every terminated employee had less than 3 years of service.

"These are all employees who have done great work and it's a sad and tragic day that we came to these drastic actions," said Hollinger.

The cuts are effective September 30th.

The school board has just over a month to balance its budget for the next fiscal year.