| A budget shortfall is creating major issues for the Roane County school system, and it's affecting everyone from students to teachers to service personnel, according to a report by WCHS-TV.
Calhoun Schools have yet to announce belt-tightening after the school was targeted at a state board meeting for having a half-million dollar deficit.
The Roane school system is struggling with falling enrollment, not unlike Calhoun, a more than $300,000 drop in state aid.
Roane Schools are considering cutting school bus service in a move that could leave some students on the bus for four hours every day, according to WCHS-TV.
After lengthy struggles, nearly two-hour one-way bus rides occur in southern WV counties where community schools have been closed and consolidated to central locations.
Four Roane bus driver jobs are among the teacher and service personnel positions facing layoffs next school year.
The board must decide by March 1 on reduction in force.
The bus route consolidation plan brought a protest from a parent whose daughter would be getting on the bus at 5:30 a.m. and getting home at 5:00 p.m.
The Roane County Board of Education voted to cut two of four bus routes in question during Thursday's meeting.
Calhoun Schools was one of five state county systems targeted by the West Virginia Board of Education during a February meeting as having major budget deficits.
Following comments made by state board member Lloyd Jackson, state media asked whether school takeovers are coming since the fiscally fraught counties are in the state board's sights.
A Calhoun school board meeting set for Monday indicates one teacher and one service personnel on the docket for Reduction In Force.
See related story STATE BOARD TARGETS CALHOUN SCHOOLS OVER CRITICAL BUDGET DEFICIT - State System Takeovers Coming? State Says Calhoun Half-Million In Red
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