The Cherokee County School District will make every effort to stay fully staffed while it deals with a major financial crunch.

The district is one of Cherokee County's largest employers with 1,100 employees. It has a $61.7 million budget this year. Due to a shortfall in state tax collections, the district could see a budget cut between 3 and 6 percent from state lawmakers this week.

Under the worst-case scenario, Cherokee County Superintendent Dr. Bill James said a 6 percent cut would amount to a $1.6 million cut in state funding.

James informed school trustees Wednesday that employee furloughs and staffing cuts would be a last resort for the district once cost-cutting and savings measures are implemented.

"There have been a lot of major companies that have shut down their operations or cut jobs in recent months," James said. "Somebody has to be stable. We are one of the county's largest employers so what we have to do is keep people working."

The district has asked teachers and school administrators to cut out any nonessential travel for the remainder of the school year. In addition, James said the district has asked teachers to limit their absences and wants school personnel to help keep the district's energy costs to a minimum.

For example, the district has $400,000 budgeted for substitute teachers this school year.

A certified substitute teacher in Cherokee County schools gets paid $175 per day.

"We will look at ways to reward teachers for good attendance at the end of this school year. It costs the district money and students lose valuable instructional time when their regular teachers are absent," James said. "If we could reduce our substitute teacher budget by 20 percent, this would save us $100,000 this year."

The district spends an estimated $2 million annually on power bills.

Any savings on electrical bills over the remaining months could help the district get through the current financial difficulties, James said.