Officials are considering holding kindergarten every other day to eliminate noon busing, but that would only save the district $62,000. There’s still $4.5 million to go.

    “As we go through this process and present to the board a balanced budget we will look different,” she said. “What we will be able to do for children will be different. We’re not going to meet the level of service we’ve been able to meet.”

    The school district is not alone. Many entities are struggling in this difficult economy. Universities are getting rid of teaching positions, increasing class sizes and considering tuition increases. County and city governments are eliminating raises and overtime, and they aren’t refilling positions when people leave.

    So far, most have found ways to manage the cutbacks, but many are concerned about how far they will have to go to make ends meet— especially entities like the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District,which depends on state funding.

    Hawthorne Middle School teacher Kathy Leishman lost $500 when the school district made its 1 percent salary cut. And she still has to buy classroom supplies with her own money because there has never been enough in the budget to cover it.

     She spends about $300 a year to purchase paper, pens, books and decorations for her classroom. And that’s actually an improvement; she spent closer to $1,000 when she worked at the elementary school level.

    “I don’t think there is any other job out there that requires you to put in money,” Leishman said.

    Although she didn’t go into teaching for the money, she’s frustrated that she is being asked to do more for less.

    “We’ve had more demands put on us with No Child Left Behind and they’ve put more pressure on us. There is more work during the day, which means more to correct at the end of the day,” she said. “It just isn’t right. You don’t expect more of people and then cut their salaries.”

    Vagner agrees, and she knows that teachers are reaching a breaking point.

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