Parish schools trim $9 million, balance budget by Michael DeVault - posted Thursday, September 13th, 2012 @ 12:00 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  After much consternation, the Ouachita Parish school system cut more than $9 million in expenses to balance its budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. The parish School Board was scheduled to adopt the 2012-2013 budget at its regular meeting tonight (Thursday). The meeting was set to begin at 6 p.m. Superintendent Bob Webber said he "feels good" about the new budget, which totals more than $201 million. That figure includes all local, state and federal funding. "When we started with a $9.2-million deficit, it looked bad," Webber said. "We knew we were going to have to make some changes." Those changes included a partial hiring freeze, reduced sabbatical leave, and the school system took a host of other steps to cuts costs. ..... For the full story, subscribe to the The Ouachita Citizen's NEW E-Edition!