THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 18, 1995 TAG: 9510180371
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Faced with a potential $6.6 million budget shortfall for this fiscal year, the School Board unanimously approved stringent cost-cutting measures Tuesday that have been recommended by the division's top administrators. It will be almost impossible to keep those cuts from touching the Beach's 75,000 students.
``We're talking about a projected deficit. We're not in a deficit situation at this time,'' said interim superintendent James L. Pughsley.
The cuts affect a broad range of programs and services, from Saturday detention to school bus purchases.
Some of the same problems that fed a $7.4 million budget deficit in 1994-95 contributed to the current year's problems. They include underestimating the number of teachers needed and failing to budget a single dollar for physical and occupational therapists for special-education students.
The budget for basic utilities - electricity, water, phone and gas - is more than $1.5million short, officials estimate.
At the same time, the division is likely to bring in less money than projected because of lower-than-expected enrollment and an overestimation of federal impact aid - the money given by the federal government to school systems that serve a large number of military dependents. Both of these miscalculations were problems in last year's deficit.
The division expects $4.25 million less in revenue and $2.35 million more in expenditures than were budgeted.
Left unsaid at Tuesday's meeting was who was responsible for the miscalculations. Pughsley declined to comment.
The 1995-96 budget was developed under the leadership of former Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette and Chief Financial Officer Mordecai L. Smith. Faucette, who could not be reached for comment, is now a superintendent in Georgia. Smith is on administrative leave.
``I was extremely pleased that the board and administration looked ahead this year and realized we were headed toward another calamity,'' said board member Ulysses Van Spiva.
Smith said he gave Faucette information earlier this year explaining how the council's appropriation - about $4 million less than the schools had requested - would affect the district's financial picture - what areas would come up short, for example.
But Faucette, Smith said, didn't share those details with the board. Doing so would have allowed the board to anticipate problems and adjust the 1995-96 budget before now, Smith said.
Some of the specific problems in this year's budget are:
A shortfall of close to $4 million in special education. Officials again underestimated the number of teachers needed. They also failed to budget more than $500,000 required to match a government grant.
A deficit of close to $1 million in middle-school education. Teachers' salaries were underestimated by more than $750,000.
Not budgeting for maintenance and custodial overtime, which will likely cost $400,000.
``It worries me,'' said council member Barbara M. Henley. ``I am alarmed for sure.''
Henley said she's also concerned about spending cuts proposed by school administrators. One suggestion by school officials is to use long-term teaching substitutes rather than hiring new teachers to replace those leaving at midyear.
While some portions of the budget are expected to come in at a cost savings, school officials said they must employ strict spending measures if they are to avoid the projected deficit. Discovering the problems fairly early in the fiscal year will give the division more time to correct them, Pughsley said.
He pledged that no employees would lose their jobs or face salary cuts and said he hopes to keep the cuts as far from the classroom as possible. ``We have not been totally successful in that, but we have been particularly sensitive to it,'' Pughsley said.
Even before the board heard the report, Vickie Hendley, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association, said staff morale was declining and apprehension growing over budget concerns. She asked the board members if they were aware ``how the budget belt is tightening around the classroom.''
As part of its cuts, the board voted to:
Freeze hiring in all positions. Only staff positions in the schools necessary to meet accreditation or governmental guidelines will be filled.
Reduce professional development activities - including travel, workshops and dues and memberships - by 50 percent to 90 percent.
Delay or eliminate capital purchases such as buses and automobiles.
Reduce or eliminate certain special programs. For example: Discontinue Saturday detention and reduce staff training by half.
Even with those and other reductions, the division stands to save only about $5.3 million. Another round of $1.5 million in cuts is planned for January, although layoffs are not being considered. MEMO: Staff writer Vanee Vines contributed to this story.
by CNB