State funds down 17% in school proposal
by Larry S. Chowning
The Middlesex County School Board voted Monday to send a proposed 2010-11 (FY11) budget of $14.2 million to the county board of supervisors for its consideration.
The total budget includes funds for operations, debt service, textbooks, cafeteria services, and capital improvements.
The operational portion of the $14.2 million total budget is $11.68 million, which represents a decrease of 2.12% over the current FY10 budget.
On Monday, school superintendent Rusty Fairheart presented a budget that called for a $360,000 increase in local funds.
However, the school board added $160,000 to the request for projected additional energy costs, so the proposed increase in local funding is $520,000.
The need for $520,000 more in local funds is primarily due to a projected loss of about $738,000 in state funds.
Since 2006-07, school officials, at the recommendation of county supervisors, have frozen the fuel and energy budget line item, and the county has paid any amounts over that line item with additional allocations during the budget year. Fairheart suggested continuing with this system.
However, school board member Lee Walton said he felt it was the responsibility of the school board to present a fair representation of what the school system needs to operate. The other school board members agreed and voted to include the projected $160,000 in additional energy costs in the budget sent to supervisors.
Fairheart noted the school system has been working to reduce energy costs through consolidation of bus routes, and three bus routes have been eliminated.
In the budget presentation, Fairheart reported that 61% of school operational funds are provided by the county; 32% by the state; 6% by the federal government; and 1% from other sources.
Because the state budget is not final, Fairheart said he has prepared two versions of the county school budget, each of which will have a significant impact on K-12 education in Middlesex.
Based on recent versions of the General Assembly proposals, Middlesex schools will either receive $3.57 million in state funds (House version) or $3.66 million in state funds (Senate version). These proposals represent a decrease of between $650,000 and $750,000 in state funds for Middlesex.
The decrease represents at least a 17% drop in state funds from what county school system currently receives.
Some good news reflected in the proposed budget is that former governor Tim Kaine’s proposal to require localities to pay a 2% increase toward their employee state retirement plans is no longer being considered. This saved Middlesex $120,000, said Fairheart.
In other areas, capital improvement projects will require an increase of $341,550 to cover repairs to the roof of the Middlesex High School gym and to continue to fund replacement of school buses.
“We have deferred maintenance on our buildings and it is beginning to cost us in our facilities,” said Fairheart. “Also, we have not replaced buses in several years, and our fleet is in dire need.”
The budget for textbooks will increase by $43,139. New textbooks were not purchased by Middlesex last year due to a one-year reprieve from the state.
Fairheart said the adoption of new state mathematics and history Standards of Learning (SOLs) this year make current school books “out of date.”
Fairheart reported that instruction represents 71% of the budget; technology, 4%; pupil transportation, 7%; maintenance, 7%; and administration and health, 7%.
School officials will hold a joint budget workshop with county supervisors on Thursday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in the historic courthouse in Saluda.
