Cherokee County schools expect to lose $800,000 in revenue following a state budget cut Thursday.

The South Carolina Department of Education and other state agencies had 4 percent cut from their budgets by the state Budget and Control Board. The acrossthe board budget cuts were made to deal with a $200 million shortfall in tax revenue collections. Schools receive 66 percent of their revenue from the state.

The Cherokee County School Board will discuss plans for dealing with the school budget cuts at its September meeting, school board chairman Billy Blackwell said.

About 90 percent of the school district's $61.7 million budget goes to salaries and benefits. The district has already scaled back education programs such as 4-yearold kindergarten and dipped heavily into its reserve funds to keep the budget balanced.

"We were hoping things would be better by now," Blackwell said. "We still have a thing or two we can do. We will have to look at our options and where this budget cut leaves us standing."

District figures show this week's 4 percent state revenue cut would cost the school district $800,000.

The school district is running out of options for cutting money from its budget without impacting teachers and district staff, Blackwell said. Cherokee County is one of the few districts statewide where school employees have not been furloughed.

"We will continue to provide the best education possible," Blackwell said. "We are going to have to discuss a plan of attack for how we deal with these budget cuts."