Desoto Schools Move Forward Despite Drops in Funding
By: Alese Underwood
Updated: August 4, 2012
In less than three years, the Desoto Parish School District has gone from boom to bust in it's funding...due to the nationwide collapse of natural gas prices.
That collapse has reduced the amount of money the district receives from the Haynesville shale industry.
Some parents worry their children's education will be hurt.
"Really worried a lot about the education of my kids and maybe with the jobs they had something to look forward to. A future to get an education. We don't know what to expect," Mark Mitchell said.
Just this past month shale revenue for the district has dropped 72% from where it was last year.
"We knew the good times were here that it wouldn't last forever. So we used the additional money for one time type projects rather than getting locked in with on going expenses," Superintendent Walter Lee said.
