The 2008-2009 school year begins in a few days. With the state cutting education funding, some school systems are going to have to make changes to their programs to stay within budget.

News 4 spoke with administrators from both Dothan City and Houston County Schools to see how they're going to cope.

Students in the Dothan City and Houston County School systems have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.

Superintendent Tim Pitchford with the Houston County School system said, "We have gone to a seven period day and the spin off will be saving money. But that was not the purpose of the move, it was an academic issue."

Dothan City Schools are implementing a new program to promote community involvement and raise student achievement levels.

Superintendent Sam Nichols said, "It’s a grassroots effort to get the communities voice heard and what the community members want for the school system. That's what we’re about."

While budget cuts were made at the state level, it seems here locally, your students may not feel the effects.

Nichols added, "We were anticipating cut backs and we made some reductions in staff last spring."

Pitchford said, "We’ve prepared, so we're in a position that the board has been good stewards of our tax dollars. We feel for a couple years we can withstand this without making any drastic cuts."

Neither school system will be cutting out field trips all together, just trying to choose more localized attractions to visit.

Dothan City Schools are back in session starting next Wednesday, and Houston County Schools kick of their school year on Monday.