Teacher retention is of critical concern in rural and high-poverty districts. This case study describes one school's challenges following the district's budget cuts that eliminated funding for schools' mentor programs. The mentor coordinator at this elementary school faces several dilemmas as she attempts to maintain highquality support for the beginning teachers. Complicating the school's efforts are the increasing demands made of the veteran staff as they try to do more with less in several areas. Case NarrativeTeresa Maxwell felt the walls closing in. When funding for the district's new teachermentoring program was cut a year ago, as Stake Elementary's mentor coordinator, she had known there would be difficult times ahead given the school's higher than typical turnover rates. Stake Elementary is located in Bakersfield County, North Carolina, a rural community in the eastern part of the state that struggles with recruiting and retaining qualified teachers. Bakersfield County is best known for its large porkprocessing plants, and the community comprises mostly migrant farm laborers and those who work at the local processing plants. Stake Elementary currently has more