Employees of the Holcim plant near Clarksville are out of a job.  The cement manufacturing plant closed for good Wednesday.  A spokesperson for Holcim blames the closing on the low demand for cement these days.

That's left its employees and a nearby community wondering what the future holds.  Meanwhile Pike County R-3 Clopton School superintendent calls the Holcim plant closure "devastating" for his district.

Clopton will lose more than a half million dollars a year due to the closure.  That adds up to a quarter of its local property tax income.

The Holcim plant closure hits close to home for many Clopton students.

Superintendent Terry Robertson said, "We have parents who've lost their jobs, not all of them lived in this district but we're trying to inventory what we can do to help kids in those families and be aware of needs they may have."

Holcim is the only large tax paying business in the district so losing it is going to hurt. Superintendent Terry Robertson says it will lose 25% of its local revenue or a tenth of its budget. Although the district will get property tax dollars from Holcim through next year, the district has already started preparing for even tighter times.

The school board is freezing all salaries, conserving supplies and eliminating some teachers aides and kitchen staff through attrition.

Robertson says state funding isn't always dependable. In fact he says the Missouri funding formula for education is unfair for rural schools without growing populations or property, leaving his district out in the cold fiscally, with all the same expectations for education. So with less money the district will have to make some more tough decisions in the coming year.

What will you do?

Superintendent Terry Robertson said, "I think first we'll have to let all patrons know how serious the problem is and what has happened."

More cuts may have to be made and taxes may need to be raised. But Robertson says first the district will ask lawmakers for help.

Superintendent Terry Robertson said, "We're going to have a school. There are 600 reasons that walk through the doors here each day that need it to be good and we'll do what we can."

Clopton will begin losing tax dollars from Holcim during the 2010- 2011 school year.