DATE: Friday, October 31, 1997              TAG: 9710310653

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   63 lines

DARE SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS BUDGET OF NEARLY $26 MILLION

The Dare County Board of Education approved a budget of nearly $26 million Wednesday night for the 1997-98 fiscal year.

The budget includes more than $7.6 million in local funding, $17.3 million in state money and nearly $749,000 in federal dollars.

The panel approved the budget on a 5-1 vote, with Donna Buxton voting in opposition. Board Vice Chairman Virginia Tillett was absent from the deliberations of almost three hours because of illness.

The school district had operated under funding at 1996-97 levels. Part of the reason for the delay in approving the budget was the General Assembly's difficulty in determining a state education budget.

Federal money makes up a small portion of the school district's budget because many federal programs are funded on the basis of economic need.

The budget includes cuts in instructional supplies, programs for exceptional children, staff development and travel for central office staff and board members.

Cuts also were made in allocations for bus driver overtime, office supplies and the salary supplement for the financial officer.

The budget calls for increases in utilities and salary supplements for teachers. Those boosts in pay are tied to individual teachers' years of service.

Some parents have expressed concern over what they say are shortfalls in instructional supplies, but Superintendent Leon Holleman said stockpiles are adequate.

``We talked to every principal as late as last week,'' Holleman told the board. ``They said they have what they need. In fact, some supplies of paper were found discolored in storage closets.''

Board Chairman Fletcher Willey said Thursday he wants to know how much material is damaged. And he said the board will likely return to the Dare County Board of Commissioners to ask for more money in the areas of instructional supplies, staff development, transportation and maintenance. The final amount, he said, has yet to be determined.

A key component of this year's budget is a restriction on the superintendent's authority to transfer funds within the budget. Previously, Holleman could transfer up to $20,000 as long as the transfer was reported to the panel at its next meeting.

Now, such transfers cannot be made without approval of either the board chairman or vice chairman and a report to the board.

Willey said the new limitation hopefully will help build public confidence in the board's ability to monitor the district's finances.

Earlier this year, the board of education asked the county governing board for an additional $305,000 to cover spending overruns by the financially embattled school district.

``At this point in time, we have to make it clear that we intend to live within our budget,'' Willey said. ``This is an expression that this is exactly what we intend to do.''

The board is expected to approve a line-item version of the budget at its meeting next month. While the dollar amounts will remain constant, some line items in the budget for exceptional children's programming will change.

Buxton asked the board to delay approving the budget resolution until the line-item document was complete.

Meanwhile, interviews continued Wednesday in the search for a new finance officer.

Former finance chief Becky Wescott was placed on paid administrative leave in early June for undisclosed reasons.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu