School board votes unanimously to continue to spend rather than cut as other systems are doing | Eastern North Carolina Now

     While other school systems in the state are making plans to cut budgets, including layoffs of classroom teachers, Beaufort County's school board yesterday spent nearly all of its budget "work session" talking about how it can manage to spend more money next year than it did this year.

    The board received a proposed local (Beaufort County taxpayers)Current Expense budget that, if enacted, would see the system spend $13,200,886 next year compared to $12,608,736. That was down from $15,310,744 budgeted in 2009 (although not all of that was actually spent.)

    Also presented was a proposed local Capital Outlay (buildings, grounds, equipment, maintenance, construction etc.) spending plan proposing to budget $1,503,066, the exact amount budgeted in the three prior years. That $1.5 did included a "Contingency" set-aside of $245,940 presumably for cost overruns and unforeseen emergencies.

    You can see the handouts by clicking here. The first page shows proposal expenditures from local current expense. The second is the proposed sources of revenue for that fund. The next three pages show, on a school/project by project basis what is proposed to be spent in capital outlay ("Recommended projects" column) and in the "Considered Projects" column those things that the administration feels really need to be done but are not recommending at this time due the "shortage of funds." Then the last five pages show what the individual schools/departments actually say they need (or want).

    The board was told that they should expect reductions in the State funds of as much as $2.1 million, as per the Governor's initial proposed budget. Of course it remains to be seen how much there will be after the Legislature completes work on the budget for next year.

    But as it now stands, the superintendent told the board, the county could lose as many as 15 teaching positions. He indicated that they could absorb that many by attrition but more might require actually laying off current employees. He proposed in the local Current Expense budget to pick up 4 of those 15 positions on the county money and to add an assistant principal at Snowden.

    That's the good news. The bad news is that next year (FY 12) stands to be much worse. That is because the Federal Stimulus money upon which the state and the schools have been relying this year and next will run out in FY 12, unless Congress bails out the states again.

    Much of the discussion centered around what position the Commissioners will take as the end of the "Interlocal Agreement" approaches. It runs through FY 11.

    The amount projected in Current Expense and Capital Outlay just happens to be the amount the Agreement would guarantee in the next (final) year of the Agreement. The proposal adopted yesterday for submission to the Commissioners is apparently a "test" to see if they will fund the Agreement in its final year or whether they will exercise the option of reducing county appropriations because of reduced revenues to the county.

    The County Manager, it was explained, had urged the School Board chairman to set aside as much as $250,000 of the anticipated increase this year to be used to meet the "impending catastrophe" in FY 12 when Federal Stimulus money dries up. It was apparent yesterday that the position the School Board is going to take is that the "state cuts mean we will have to cut teaching positions and full funding of the Agreement is needed to maintain at least some (4-5) of those positions."

    Meanwhile, the County is being hit with revenue shortfalls and those are projected to continue and even be worse over the next year or so. The County has consumed much of its fund balance (savings) and has very little cushion there. Tax re-valuation is going to hit in this year's budget and it remains to be seen what impact that will have. The County Manager has been calling for a "revenue neutral" budget, which contrary to the impression that term gives, would actually be an increase in county expenditures. If that turns out to be true then the Commissioners may have enough money to fully fund the Agreement with the schools. But that possibility does not speak to what happens in FY 12 when the Federal money runs out.

    We'll have more on the budget adopted yesterday when we receive some additional information we have asked for from the schools. Check back later for more on that.

    Delma Blinson writes the "Teacher's Desk" column for our friend in the local publishing business: The Beaufort Observer. His concentration is in the area of his expertise - the education of our youth. He is a former teacher, principal, superintendent and university professor.