Update: School board budget heads to supervisors

The Amherst County School Board unanimously approved a balanced 2010-11 budget last week that now will be considered by the Board of Supervisors.

School officials previously asked the Amherst supervisors to fund their budget at the same level as last year.

The school board also voted to return more than $200,000 in previously budgeted funds to the supervisors to help reduce the county deficit.

The school budget eliminates 37.5 positions, though the actual job loss will be 12.5 positions because most of the reductions were achieved through attrition and other means.

Two of the positions are teaching positions –– one a full-time position and two part-time, said Superintendent Brian Ratliff.

“We’re going to move forward with the resources we have and meet the needs of every child, every day,” Ratliff said.

The school board adopted what members termed a fair budget after a series of workshops before and after the state budget was approved by the General Assembly.

“I think we’ve done a superb job,” without announcing drastic possibilities in advance and alarming employees, said board Chairman Jones Stanley.

“We kind of did our homework and did it right the first time,” Stanley said.

Positions eliminated in this budget included seven part-time elementary school secretaries, 14 instructional assistants, two math resource specialists and a central office instructional supervisor, among several other positions.

The new Amherst school budget, posted on the school system’s Web site Thursday afternoon, calls for $46,180,380 in spending.

The current year’s budget was adjusted downward to $47,018,772 as the economic downturn deepened. This year’s original operating budget was $49,018,772.

During the process to write a 2010-11 budget, officials predicted a shortfall of $3 million to as high as $5 million but the final shortfall worked out to be less than estimated.

In proposed spending for the next school year, more than $28 million would be for instruction in the district, which will have about 4,390 students next year; $2.6 million for transportation; $3.7 million for maintenance; $1.9 million for administration (which includes school nurses and psychologists); and no funds for construction, the document shows.

Revenues include $14.1 million from the Amherst County Board of Supervisors, $4.4 million from state sales tax revenue and more than $21 million in other revenue from the state.