Revenue woes

A 2 percent pay cut for teachers, clerical workers, and other support staff along with slashing salaries for administrators, supervisors, and coordinators by 3 percent top the list of recommended budget reductions on the table for Charles City County schools.

In presenting a proposed $12 million budget for 2010-11 to county School Board members last Thursday, school superintendent Janet Crawley said pay cuts are necessary to balance next year’s revenue, which is projected to be $636,589 below funding for the current year.

But Crawley’s proposal does not entirely close the deficit from the expense end. Included is a request for $197,907 in additional county money, although Crawley said indications from the county are that schools can expect no more than level funding equal to the $5.7 million in local dollars schools received in this year’s $12.5 million budget.

No teaching positions are in jeopardy for now, but the superintendent is proposing to eliminate the assistant principal post at the middle school and do away with middle school athletics. Also on the list are not filling a vacant special education teaching position, eliminating two teacher aide posts, and canceling an after school alternative education program for students with behavioral problems.

Field trips are on the cut list to reduce fuel costs, and schools can save some money through staff retirement, Crawley said. Two teachers plan to retire when the school year ends, she added.

The proposed salary cuts, meanwhile, do not apply to teacher aides, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers.

“Because their pay is so low, if we can do anything to protect that, we will,” Crawley said. “But we recognize that may not be possible.

Building the budget proposal, she said, “has been an arduous task,” but more cuts could be on they way if the county cannot chip in the $197,907 needed to close the projected revenue/expense gap. If not, schools would then look at eliminating a pre-kindergarten program and high school athletics, combining bus routes, and resorting to a four-day school week.

“Nobody wants to reduce salaries, but it’s something that’s going to happen in education across the state,” she said. “There’s nothing on here I want to eliminate.”

Where schools appear to be absorbing the biggest hit is in the realm of state funding. State dollars have yet to be set in stone, but for now, Charles City stands to receive just over $4.9 million or about $604,000 less than for the current year.

The state, Crawley said, is building its estimate on a projected Charles City enrollment of 829.45 students. Current enrollment stands at 859, and the difference between the two figures equates to over $100,000 in additional state money.

When asked about the near 30-student discrepancy between today’s actual enrollment and the state’s projection for next year, Crawley had no explanation, but added, “Unless it’s because they think they can save a dollar.”

School Board members have scheduled budget work sessions tonight (Feb. 4) and Feb. 18, 6 p.m. each night, in the middle school library. A public hearing on a revised budget proposal is scheduled for Feb. 25, and formal presentation to the county’s Board of Supervisors is on March 10.

“I will say last year was difficult,” Crawley told the board, “but this absolutely is the most difficult budget I’ve had to work with.”