By DAVID GREEN 

If anyone is still wondering whether school budget cuts made in August were necessary, if lopping off that much spending was prudent, if maybe the board needlessly rushed the process—the pondering can stop.

Not only was that cost cutting necessary, it was just a start to a longer and increasingly painful process. Many district residents criticized the choice of cuts

made and suggested several alternatives. Now all those alternative options could be made and it would still be far from sufficient.

Morenci Area Schools have often been described as in much better economic shape than most other districts in the area. Many schools throughout the state have had a much smaller cash reserve to depend on as the regional economy continues to sputter and school funding falls short. And, of course, costs continue to rise.

It’s true, Morenci has made use of a healthy fund balance that many others didn’t possess. But as spending continues to rise without the benefit of increased revenue, we’re not in good shape at all. With deficit spending projected to rise as high as $450,000 this year, perhaps we’re much worse off than many others.

Board members met recently not to discuss what to cut but to iron out the process of making cuts. That was an important step that should avoid problems encountered during the last round of cutting.

It’s going to be a painful process as teachers are let go, as classrooms become more crowded and as the curriculum shrinks. However, for the revenue available, we’re offering more than we can afford.

That certainly isn’t suggesting that we’re offering more than we should. In fact, it would be easy to draw up a list of program additions to make the educational experience here better yet. Until economic conditions improve, we just don’t have the cash to support what we have.

Board members and administrators need to determine if Morenci really is worse off economically than other districts, and if so, why. They must continue to look at how other districts in the state are handling the funding crisis and examine new ideas for shaving costs.

The goal in making cuts is to place the classroom at the bottom of the list, but maybe this time the end of the list will be reached.