THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511170924
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Wanted: Raises
A variety of district workers urged board members Thursday to consider bigger pay raises - or the provision of certain fringe benefits for some workers - as board members and the superintendent begin to set priorities for the 1996-97 budget.
Carolyn Smith, president of the local teachers group, asked the board to raise salaries for all employees by an average of 5 percent. Otherwise, she said, Portsmouth will continue to lose employees to area districts offering higher wages.
On average, district workers got a 2 percent raise for the current year. Including fringe benefits, that increase cost $1.6 million.
Superintendent Richard Trumble will present his proposed budget in March.
Budget transfers
The board approved nearly $779,000 in transfers requested by the administration. Trumble said the transfers were needed because of reductions in state aid and several unanticipated expenses - such as a $30,000 bill for a consultant to evaluate bids on insurance packages.
Most of the money was moved from line items in the instruction and operations categories. One example: $215,000 for instructional materials and equipment repair was shifted out of the instruction category.
Dollars were transferred to different line items in the instruction, administration, operations, transportation and attendance/health categories - primarily to pay for employee benefits, insurance costs and services that have been farmed out.
Incomplete homework
Last month, the board told Trumble to return to the negotiating table with the district's auditors to find out whether they would be willing to provide more services under the current contract or at least do additional investigative work for less than the minimum $10,000 extra the auditors proposed.
Trumble was supposed to share some news on Thursday. But he had not done his homework. He said he would report back by January.
In August, the board approved two measures aimed at preventing the kind of financial crisis plaguing the Beach district, which ran up a $12.1 million deficit last year.
The measures directed Trumble to have an independent auditor find out what safeguards were in place to prevent overspending; and to develop ``a simple summary'' of the monthly financial report, starting with the October financial statement.
In addition to the regular financial statements, the board received the October summary on Thursday. It compares budgeted dollars and actual expenses so far this fiscal year. It covers only the operating budget, however. by CNB