NATCHEZ — Facing a second straight year of state mandated budget cuts, the Natchez-Adams School District is learning to make do with less.

The district learned of the cuts totaling more than $820,000 late last week.

Margaret Parson the, district’s business manager, said the cuts are particularly difficult to deal with since the district had already budgeted for the funding.

“Now we just have to rework the budget,” Parson said. “It’s difficult.”

Last year more than $600,000 was cut from the district’s budget, and since 2005, with the exception of 2008, the district has received cuts or not received state allocations totaling more than $3.7 million, Parson said.

While Parson said the district has not scheduled any specific cuts in the budget to compensate for the state’s cuts, “belt-tightening” will be needed.

The bulk of the state’s cuts, approximately $790,000, were made to funding the district uses to pay for salaries, utilities, instructional office supplies and transportation.

And since more than 80 percent of the district’s budget is consumed by state regulated teachers’ salaries, finding other ways to pay the district’s teachers, and other employees, is not easy Parson said.

Parson said while the district also receives money from the federal government, none of that money can be reallocated in any way to make up for the state’s cuts.

“We can’t touch that at all,” she said.

District Superintendent Anthony Morris said while the school board has yet to take action to address the funding cuts, he believes they will take action to reduce the amount of each department’s budget by an undetermined percentage.

Morris said he believes the department heads would then be directed to make cuts as they see fit.

But both Morris and Parson said finding room to make those cuts would be difficult.

“The budget is so lean, there isn’t much room to make cuts,” Morris said. “We’re not sure of the total impact.”

And the NASD isn’t the only local education entity impacted by the cuts.

Copiah-Lincoln Community College President Ronnie Nettles said the college also lost funding as a result of the cuts.

However, Co-Lin’s cuts were not nearly as drastic as those seen in the district, Nettles said.

Of the college’s $10.5 million state appropriation, Co-Lin will lose approximately $500,000.

While Nettles said the college is taking action to limit any unnecessary spending, like in travel, the cuts won’t harm the school.

“This won’t have a direct impact on our operations,” Nettles said.

Gov. Haley Barbour said the cuts were necessary to make up for a $171.9 million budget shortfall that resulted in lower than expected state revenues.