Sequester update: Valley schools brace for potential budget cuts

Valley school districts are trying to figure out what the looming sequestration will mean for their kids and their staff.
 
Arizona stands to lose some $30 million in federal funds.
 
Districts like Roosevelt in south Phoenix stand to get hit hard because they serve a majority of low income and special needs kids.
 
"We just don't know," said Joseph Ortiz, spokesperson for the district. "We are bracing for a $700,000 loss to our budget."
 
Ortiz explained that a lot of those cuts could hit early childhood programs. The district has an early childhood center near 22nd Street and Broadway.
 
Dora Payne said she counts on the funding for her grandson's education.
 
"Otherwise he would be at home," she said. "It is concerning because he is learning here and there is only so much I can teach him at home."
 
Andrea Huerta is a teacher. The cuts could mean also mean a loss of jobs.
 
"Its not just my employment," she said. "It would hurt kids and families. The kids at 3, 4, and 5-years-old are at such a critical time where they are starting to become the people they will be."
 
Ortiz said it is too soon to tell exactly how many jobs and the details of what the cuts would do.
 
Most districts anticipate the cuts to come next year. Some schools on Indian reservations or on military bases however could lose immediately.
 
While the White House estimates losses to Arizona around $30 million some fear it could be much more and impact thousands of kids and teachers