“Pull out another sheet of paper to add to your notebook,” math teacher Sarah Gegen says.

More and more students are hearing this from their teachers. But the teachers are not trying to annoy you, they are just trying to save the precious little money the school has.

“The school’s budget is no secret,” principal Karen Pickert said, “and so it’s no secret that we have been cutting back on spending due to the decrease in funding. A decrease of approximately $3000 from last year alone.”

“Due to the regulations of the Kansas State Department of Education, our commissions on vending machines has dropped drastically,” Pickert explains “We had already experienced a decrease of around $20,000 over the last 10 years and with the new guidelines, it will probably continue to decline.”

These cuts don’t only affect students; the food served at meetings, student events and faculty in-services has also been cut.

Cutting back on paper is an easy way to save money for more important resources for the school. Since paper has gone up $6.44/carton in the last five years, which makes it $26.19 a carton, paper usage seems to be an easy thing to monitor.

“Last year, in the first week of March, 60,000 sheets were run through our small copiers, 12 cartons of paper,” Pickert said.

Teachers can help to fix this problem, and one of these ways is demonstrated by science teacher Carl Hinote. Hinote has come up with a notebook idea in which students can go online and print it themselves, pay for the printing cost from the school or make their own notebook with a three ring binder.

“Not only does this save money for the school, but it’s an easier way for me to get them the information and help them stay organized,” Hinote said.

“We also monitor the use of custodial supplies very carefully,” Pickert said, “but one of the largest cutbacks has come from energy. The entire building was not air conditioned during the summer and was shut down for 3 days every week.”