ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701100133
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
In his final budget proposal as superintendent of Montgomery County schools, Herman Bartlett has recommended the lowest spending increase since his first proposal three years ago.
Urging reason and compromise, Bartlett told the School Board Tuesday night he worked with county officials to come up with a 6.75 percent budget increase.
The result is still a tight budget, with an emphasis on hiring new teachers and simply holding on to programs already in place.
The Board of Supervisors allocates all school money not given by state or federal sources. Each year, School Board members question aloud the best way to make budget requests to a Board of Supervisors that has been historically conservative on school spending.
In his first year, Bartlett suggested a 6.7 percent increase, and was criticized for not asking the supervisors for more. Last year, he went the opposite route and requested a 12 percent increase.
Had the supervisors agreed to it, they would have had to raise the real estate tax rate by 18 cents, according to some estimates. Looking back, Bartlett said, it was "highly unlikely" that his proposed budget would have passed. (The supervisors agreed to about one-third of the request instead.)
The proposed 1997-98 budget, he told the School Board, was simple and realistic. He used the county's estimate of how much it spends on schools each year, then added the yearly "rollover" expenses. That adds up to a $1.9 million increase - a drop in the bucket compared with last year's $5.7 million request.
Bartlett said he hopes the supervisors find "no gimmick, no trickery" in this budget and agree to fund all of it. Bartlett's employment contract expires at the end of June, just before the new budget will take effect.
To obtain such a budget, administrators could not fund many of the initiatives outlined in the 2006 plan, such as foreign language classes in the middle school and programs for at-risk preschool children. Employees would receive a 3 percent pay increase and the equivalent of 28 teachers (some would be part time) would be hired.
The School Board will begin discussing this budget today, beginning at 6:30. A public hearing will be held Jan. 28 at Christiansburg High School. The final budget must be turned in to the Board of Supervisors by Feb. 3. The supervisors go through their own round of deliberations and a public hearing before setting tax rates and adopting a final budget in late March or early April. The new budget would go into effect July 1.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Bartlettby CNB