ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991                   TAG: 9103070522
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FINCASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium


BOTETOURT SCHOOL BUDGET OK'D

A school budget of $17.4 million for the 1991-92 fiscal year was approved Wednesday night by the Botetourt County School Board.

The budget, which freezes all salaries and makes other cuts, now will be sent to the county Board of Supervisors to be incorporated into the overall county budget.

The supervisors could order changes, but are not expected to.

School Board members said they consulted with the supervisors at every stage while putting the budget together and had a good report on the amount of revenue the schools could expect.

The full amount of the budget is $17,497,564. That is $26,741 less than the school budget for the current fiscal year.

Superintendent C.S. McClure said that in order to balance the budget, several cuts had to be made in addition to freezing salaries of all school personnel.

The cuts are five teaching positions, two teacher's aides, one administrative position, two clerical positions and one maintenance position. In addition, the school system will buy four school buses instead of the planned five and will not replace one maintenance vehicle.

McClure said cuts had to be made even though the overall budget is down because of lower revenue in some essential programs.

On the revenue side, the $10.4 million from the state is $312,642 less than in this year.

Also reduced is revenue from incidental fees such as tuitions and sale of equipment. That amount of $482,598 is $5,500 lower.

Revenue from federal and local sources will increase. But the increases - $135,000 local and $48,934 federal - are not enough to offset reductions in the other revenue categories.

McClure said also that some of the local and federal increases must be used for mandated programs.

The teacher salary scale that goes with the budget is the same as now in effect. This is a salary range from $21,361 at the bottom of the scale to $32,042 at the top, or more than 22 years of experience.

The salary scale also provides various amounts from $665 to $2,127 in pay supplements for teachers with advanced education.

The overall county budget, which will include the school budget, will go into effect July 1. Before then, probably in June, the supervisors will hold a public hearing after a preliminary overall budget is formulated.



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