Officials at Selma City Schools have tightened their belts and expect to have to do so again soon.

The school system was on tap to receive $1,519,557 from the state in September for its last draw down of the year. Now, it’ll receive $379,889.25 less because of an ongoing struggle between Gov. Bob Riley and Attorney General Troy King.

BP has said it will not pay Alabama’s $148 million claim for tax revenue lost to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico due to a lawsuit filed by King.

On Thursday, Gov. Bob Riley said he would cut education funding by 2 percent. That cut now gives school districts about one-fourth of what they would normally receive in September.

The move doesn’t affect salaries, but hurts reserves just the same, said Selma interim Superintendent Don Jefferson.

“That’s nine-to-10 teachers’ salary and benefits,” Jefferson said.

The school system will draw down from its reserves the money to cover the latest cuts, he said.

Officials with the Dallas County School System did not return telephone calls.

Jefferson said the bigger issue in all this is the way education in Alabama is financed.

“We have to find another way to fund education rather than through sales tax and property tax,” he said, noting nearly every other state has a different method of financing education.

Proration has cost the Selma School System nearly $9 million in lost revenue from the state during the last two years, Jefferson said.

“You can’t make that up,” he said.

Although King and Riley are not speaking to one another now, they still do not agree on how to handle BP.

BP officials have said the lawsuit filed by King constituted part of the reason for the oil company’s decision not to begin making payments on the $148 million claim sought by Riley.

Riley blamed the 2 percent cuts on the attorney general.

“If that lawsuit hadn’t paralyzed our negotiations, we wouldn’t have to make these additional cuts to education funding,” Riley told The Associated Press.

But King said the governor’s way didn’t work, and Riley needs to step aside and let the attorney general handle the matter.

As the two continue to issue dueling press statements, state school officials have told local systems to tighten belts and prepare for the worse.

The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The conditions that caused the extra cuts Thursday won’t disappear in two weeks, said Craig Pouncey, assistant state school superintendent for financial services.

While it’s likely everyone will be paid, it’s nearly certain school systems will defer maintenance and cut back on other costs.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.