Covert Schools Approve Loan Request To Make Payroll

The school board in Covert has reversed itself less than a week after voting to not borrow money to stay solvent. The board voted Monday night to authorize the district to borrow up to four-million dollars, as Superintendent Michael Alexander says without it, they might not have been able to make payroll on August 31. The board has been working to wipe out a deficit of over three-million-dollars for the coming school year and has it down to just under 428-grand right now. Among their measures was a five-percent across-the-board pay cut and a move to lay off ten teachers and staff members. As a result of those cuts, the district has 37 teachers heading into the next school year, and the administration is still in contract talks with the teachers union.