HAZELWOOD, Mo. — The Ferguson-Florissant School Board meeting was packed Wednesday night. A highly-anticipated item was on the agenda: How should the north St. Louis County school district handle its current budget issues?
"I want to know several things, including what staff is possibly being cut? Will coordinators also be cut?" Bobbie Small-Harkless asked the school board.
Small-Harkless is a school office manager at one of the district's elementary schools.
"We would like to be part of the solution or a solving team instead of being left out," said Victoria Ferris, a McCluer North High School teacher and a 20-year-plus member of the school district.
The school district is facing a nearly $8 million projected deficit if things don't turn around by the next school year.
As a result, the school board recently surveyed parents, staff and community members and asked several things, including if the district should close or consolidate some of its 23 schools, slash its 77 bus routes or reduce the amount of money substitute teachers are paid.
"Staffing is a huge concern," Ferris said.
Ferris also said many teachers are now afraid of potentially losing their jobs or their class sizes expanding, which she said "will make it harder for teaching."
"All of us teachers are doing the equivalent of biting our nails, worried about how the already shortage of teachers is going to be compounded," she said.
Nearly 10,000 students currently make up the Ferguson-Florissant School District.
The district says last month it reduced its spending by $14 million through cuts approved by the Board of Education two weeks ago, but it didn't help much.
"Students are probably gonna feel a little bit of pain in this because it's the reality of the situation that we are in. We need to make a decision on where our future lies," parent Doug Jackson said.
The school board will review everything it heard Wednesday night and possibly announce some final decisions at its next meeting on March 26.
The district said parents, staff and the community can get involved in making their voice heard by taking a survey by 10 a.m. Thursday, March 13.