Schools Budget Comments

The school budget is made up of several funding sources.

The district will receive stimulus funds totaling $2.5M for 2009-10,but the use of the money is restricted.

IDEA VI B (Special Education) $1,572k
Title I (low income) $874K
Pre-school $61k

Some of these funds may be able to offset the $719k for curriculum coaches and resource teachers below, and some of these funds may be able to be reallocated to free up $525k that is currently being spent on ESL and Newcomer programs.

For the local expense budget, the commissioners initially requested that the district prepare a budget that is flat to 2008-09. Since some costs are increasing (particularly insurance and utilities), the net effect is a $2.4M reduction. Of that, $426K was for locally funded teachers 2% salary increase. Since the state will not be giving teachers an increase, that $423K can be reallocated with the commissioners permission (which they were amenable to.) Planned cuts to hold the local expense budget flat:

4 Curriculum resource teachers (can be restored with Title I stimulus
funds above)
7.5 Curriculum coaches (can be restored with Title I stimulus funds
above)
3 CTE teachers, plus 4 months of additional CTE positions
1 HR central office position
11 teaching positions (this cut of $614K can be partially offset by
$423k savings from the 2% salary increase)
$828k in non-personnel cuts (maintenance, supplies, training, etc.)

38% of the state budget is for education, and 90% of that is for personnel. As of today, the state budget for education is estimated to be cut 11.1%. The CCS share of the state cut is $4.5M (on top of the local expense budget cuts.) The state budget will not be finalized for at least a few more weeks. Right now, the House version is the best to use, because the Senate and Governor's budgets do not include current revenue projections and do not meet the federal requirements to get stimulus funds. State funds have to be used as the state mandates (so funds for one type of expense can't be used to pay for a different
type of expense). Expected CCS cuts for state expense funding:

If the state increases class size by 1 student (all grades) - 13 teachers
If the state increases class size by 2 students - 26  teachers
Cut all grade 3 teacher assistants - 25 positions
Cut counselors/media specialists/social workers - 4.33 positions
Cut 11-month Assistant principals - 3 positions
Cut non-instructional (secretary/custodian) - 6.87 positions
Cut Central Office - 1 position
Eliminate "Improving Accountability" allotment (tutoring for low- performing students) - $254k
Reduce at-risk student services/alternative schools allotment - $131k or 3 positions
Reduce transportation allotment by 7.5% - 563 miles/day, or 7.5 buses, $193k total
Cut textbook funds  $63k
Eliminate all state funds for staff development for 2 years - $67k each year
Furlough all school employees - 5 days

Other state options being discussed include cutting 10% of positions statewide or cutting all school salaries 6.8%.

The county is moving to cut expenses wherever possible, including eliminating some special events, having a 4-day work week for 8 weeks this summer, closing the Paul Braxton building, implementing an energy savings program (including eliminating microwaves/refrigerators/coffee- makers in classrooms), reducing field trips, and having longer bus routes.

The net of stimulus funds, local cuts, and state cuts means the school district will likely have $4.020M less for the 2009-10 school year than was available for this year, and much of the budget has to be spent in very specific ways. We will likely lose between 55.2 and 68.2 positions for next year. Because most schools don't have the exact number of students allotted teachers in each grade and because there will not be local funds to add teachers, there will be many more combined classes (2 elementary grades taught in one class). There will be fewer specials in K-8. There will be fewer electives and larger class sizes in high school.