Charles City school officials expecting more local money

Charles City school officials plan to revisit $200,000 in recommended budget cuts after receiving new local revenue figures provided to superintendent of schools Janet Crawley.

Crawley met with county administrator Zach Trogdon and supervisor Floyd Miles Sr. on April 10 to discuss allocated local dollars to schools in the proposed FY2013-14 budget. That amount sat at just over $4.5 million, reduced by $200,000 from the current school year’s figure. Now, a new proposal provides more money, but with strict conditions.

Crawley told school board members at their April 16 meeting that the new county contribution to be allocated to schools is $4,824,312. The new figure is $243,096 more than the original $4.5 million proposed.

According to Crawley, the additional $243,096 is designated to cover Gov. Bob McDonnell’s two percent pay raise for school employees, money for schools’ textbook fund, and HVAC replacement in the school system. Of the additional amount, textbooks and salaries account for $157,716.

The superintendent recommended a reexamination of the earlier budget cuts, reminding board members that cuts cannot be made in areas of salary, textbooks, or the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that specifically designates HVAC repair and/or replacement.

A budget work session is scheduled for tonight (April 25) at 6:30 p.m.