For the past several weeks Bay County School Board members have been trying to figure out how to cut several million dollars from their budget, but now they may have to cut more than they originally thought

The board held its first of two workshops this week to try and break down the school budget and explain why some areas have to be cut and others don't.

Bay County School Board members were originally told they would have to chop $16.4 million from the school district budget. Now that figure has increased to $20 million. Board members discussed areas that won't be cut, including capital project funds and debt service funds.

The money will be cut from the general fund. To save money, Superintendent James McCalister has recommended re-purposing Millville Elementary and moving Margaret K. Lewis School to Millville's Campus.

He also recommended closing A.D. Harris High School and moving those students to Haney High School. The third recommendation is to cancel the contract for Emerald Bay Academy, close down the school, and incorporate those students to other area schools.

Board members hope these workshops will give people a better understanding of the school district’s budget.

Pat Sabiston, a School Board member, said, "The budget for Bay County schools is a pretty complicated document, as you heard tonight. People were wondering why we couldn't take money out of one pot and put it into another. That's because the government won't let us. There are general accounting principals by the government that we must follow, so when you have capital outlay, which involves building and repurposing schools, that's one fund. But the general fund, which is what were struggling with, is everything else basically."

The school closings are still receiving opposition. A representative from Millville Elementary School plans to present some options for keeping that school open.

One other note, some of the Millville supporters pointed out the fact that the three schools slated for closing are also the only three schools in the district that don't have any debt.

Another workshop is set for tonight night, and the public is invited to attend.