Story by TV20's Crispin Lopez

Levy County School Board officials point to the slumping economy as a reason for a drop in student enrollment. Levy County lost 160 students from last school year. That's meant about $1 million in lost revenue.

"In our case we have more staff than was projected for," said Patrick Wnek. "That's something that we need to look into for next year."

Other rural counties have been hit hard as well. Gilchrist County saw a four percent drop in enrollment from last year. As a result they lost $800,000 in state funding. That drop combined with other budget reductions led to job cuts.

"This year we reduced 33 positions at the start of the year," said David Dose, Director of Finance for the Gilchrist County School Board. "And mid-year we reduced another eight positions to try and deal with the budget."

With more budget cuts anticipated by the end of the school year, more positions could end up on the chopping block.