Anthony Cloud

Staff Writer

The Family Resource Youth Service Center (FRYSC) directors and coordinators in the Bell County School District will be receiving cuts in their salary and fringe benefits during the 2013-2014 school year. The action follows a decision made by the Bell County Board of Education during a meeting on Tuesday.

Each FRYSC coordinator and director position, which is funded by grants, will be cut working days throughout the 2013-2014 school year in an attempt to have more money to spend on children. The coordinators at Right Fork, Frakes and Lone Jack will be receiving 190 days — 50 days less than the 2012-13 school year.

The director at Page will be receiving 200 working days, while the directors at Bell High, Bell Central and Yellow Creek will be receiving 220 working days.

Based on numbers from the 2012-13 grant, the move will decrease the amount of money it costs the school board. The new salaries will only cost the board $1,733.87, which is a small portion of the coordinator salaries from Frakes and Right Fork.

“It isn’t pretty and it’s very painful,” said Superintendent Yvonne Gilliam. “I don’t like cutting people.”

The salary and fringe combined for the coordinators at Frakes, Right Fork and Lone Jack is now $30,506.45, down $8,049.20 from the 2012-13 school year. At Page, the director combined salary will be $40,142.27, down $8,027.93.

At Bell Central, Yellow Creek and Bell High, the salaries will be dropped to $44,869.94. The decrease in salary for Bell Central and Yellow Creek will be $3,300.26. At Bell High, the difference between this year and next year will be $30,935.40.

In years past, the grant, which is typically higher for larger schools, funds the positions but did not cover the coordinators salaries at Frakes, Right Fork or Lone Jack.

According to Gilliam, this cost the board additional money in the past and left no money for services to students.

At Page, Bell Central, Yellow Creek and Bell High, the grant did cover the directors salaries, but did not leave much money for the children.

No amounts have been released by the state in regards to the amount of grant money each school will receive next year to fund the FRYSC. The potential exists that amount will continue to decrease.

Gilliam and Title 1 Director Jeff Saylor also released possible staffing policies for the district and schools in an attempt to save money.

There was no action taken by the board on the new policies, which would abolish five certified positions from the school staffing policy and 3.5 certified positions from the district staffing policy.

It would also eliminate 14 classified positions from the district policy.

If the policies are approved by the board at a later date, there would be $308,000 saved in the school staffing policy and $332,000 saved in the district staffing policy.

Anthony Cloud can be reached via email at acloud@civitasmedia.com or by phone at 606-248-1010, ext. 208.