THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170345
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The school district has few options for further slicing its budget without cutting what goes on in the classroom, according to interim Superintendent James L. Pughsley.
School board members faced more grim financial news Tuesday night - a projected sharp decline in revenue could force them to ask City Council for additional money to balance the books. The good news was that the actions of school officials last fall prevented the situation from being worse.
After a lengthy discussion which dominated the early part of Tuesday's meeting, the board asked that city leaders be apprised of the situation and requested information about alternatives to getting more money from the city. They also asked for an analysis of how long it would take the school district to run short of cash without additional funds.
``If we don't get some more money from somewhere, we're going to run out of money for something?'' asked board member Elsie M. Barnes.
``Yes m'am,'' responded Donald A. Peccia, associate superintendent for administrative services.
Board members hope to avoid another financial crisis like the $12.1 million deficit discovered for the 1994-95 fiscal year. Although board members had been advised by former Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette that the district faced a possible deficit if measures were not taken, he also assured them that the matter was under control.
Faucette left the district in June to head the schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He has since said he relied on information from his financial staff. Pughsley and Peccia informed the board in October that the district could exceed the current year's budget due to the same problems that contributed to the deficit - overestimated revenue and underfunded program and jobs.
At that time, the district launched a series of strict spending measures that school administrators expect will save more than $5.4 million. Revenue projections, however, have worsened with both sales tax and federal dollars falling off.
In the best case scenario, school officials predict the district will need $1 million to close the school year. If a hoped-for windfall does not materialize, the figure rises to more than $4 million.
Board member Tim Jackson asked Pughsley and Peccia about options besides going back to City Council for money. Pughsley said there were other places that could be trimmed within the district, but he was reluctant to do so.
``We can make additional recommendations,'' Pughsley said. ``(But) they will impact the classroom even more and they will impact personnel.''
Of the $358 million budget approved for the district, about 82 percent is spent on classroom instruction and the bulk of that is spent on personnel.
Board member Joseph Taylor also seemed hesitant to make additional cuts.
``We've really sucked a lot of blood from a turnip,'' he said. ``We have little to pull from.''
Jackson asked that a report be compiled showing where additional cuts could be made if the needed money did not come from council so that the board and council were aware of the alternatives.
Board member Ulysses Van Spiva asked for a timeline of when district accounts would start to run dry without an infusion of dollars. by CNB