After initial speculation that the Powhatan County School system would be forced to make drastic cuts to its budget—perhaps laying off teachers and support staff—school officials are now cautiously optimistic about their situation.

School Board member Jason Moore said Thursday that the board had already managed to pare all but $1,000,000 of expenses needed to balance the budget.

“We’re not really that far out,” he said.

That’s not to say that no cuts will need to be made.

School Board members have been discussing numerous places the school system could save money, from reducing individual schools’ budgets for substitute teachers to selling the trailers the county has not used since the new elementary school opened last year.

However, certain factors outside of their control may also help ease the burden. They will likely save $186,000 on gas this year due a drop in prices. They will also save money by not filling positions vacated by employees who are retiring or leaving the school system.

According to School Board member Valarie Ayers, they may also be able to save money by asking the county to help pay for much-needed new school buses, and by creating community bus stops in subdivisions to cut down on the number of stops.