Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992 TAG: 9203200289
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
But, at a meeting after the hearing, the board decided it did not dare present that 1992-93 total to the Board of Supervisors on Monday night.
The trouble was that nobody wanted to cut anything.
The budget includes a number of initiatives ranging from foreign languages and keyboarding skills for early grades to tougher graduation requirements, all wanted by school officials to bring the school system into the next century.
As proposed, the budget would call for the biggest increase in local funding in county history - about 30 percent, although the budget itself is only up 10 percent.
The reason for the local increase is that state funding will amount to only $29,000 more than the current year, much less than school officials had counted on when preparing their spending plan.
They did not get word about the state money until last week when the budget already was drawn up. The state provided nearly $400,000 more in funding new educational initiatives, but the county lost almost that much because of its enrollment decrease. State funding is based on numbers of students.
Rhea Saltz suggested not buying textbooks, as planned, but some existing books are falling apart and are out of print. Other possibilities discussed included dropping planned uniforms for custodians and half-hour planning periods for elementary teachers.
When the discussion got around to how much might be saved by eliminating paper towels, Lewis Pratt noted, "Folks, we're not finding much money here."
Vice Chairman Ron Chaffin suggested that the board give Superintendent William Asbury an amount and let him decide where to cut before meeting with the supervisors.
"I don't have a problem with giving Dr. Asbury a figure and have him come back to us," Chaffin said.
"What's your figure?" asked Saltz.
Nobody had one. The board agreed to Asbury's suggestion of calling together a representative group of teachers and staff members to see where cuts might be made.
School Board members were unanimous about one thing: They told Asbury not to touch teachers' salaries, slated for a 3 percent increased after no raises this year.
About 40 people attended the hearing at the Dublin Middle School; most seemed to be school employees.
by CNB