School funding request hits new high

Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:00 am | Updated: 3:46 pm, Wed Nov 25, 2009. By Scott Goss

Superintendent Carl Roberts this week insisted his pending $181 million budget proposal is fiscally responsible — even though it includes a request for the largest single-year dollar increase in county funding in more than a decade.
Roberts’ overall spending plan is counting on $8.4 million in new state and county funding next year in addition to the $172.2 million approved for this year.
Of that overall increase, the county would be expected to pony up $4.5 million, while the state would be on the hook for an additional $1.8 million, according to the budget request.
If approved as proposed, the increase in county funding would top the $3.5 million boost in fiscal year 2006 — the largest single-year increase in county funding secured by Roberts during his 12-year tenure.
Roberts on Wednesday dismissed that detail as “misleading” and insisted his spending proposal is frugal and appropriate given the county’s recent funding history.
“Last year, the increase in public school funding approved by the county was only a couple hundred thousand dollars,” Roberts said. “If you spread the ($4.5 million) increase (proposed in next year’s budget) over two years, it’s actually less than the cost of living.”
Roberts said the county commissioners approved just $200,000 of the $4.4 million increase in county funding requested by the schools last year because an increase in state funding resulted in an overall $11 million increase.
“At the time, everyone knew fiscal year 2009 was going to be a different picture and the commissioners acknowledged we would need additional (county) resources at that time,” he said. “I feel confident the county will do everything it can to fund our request this year.”
Roberts also noted that while the total dollar increase being sought from the county is the largest since 2001, the increase as a percentage of the county’s current funding level is actually in line with previous requests.
“The overall budget increase being sought this year, at 4.9 percent, is also one of the smallest we’ve asked for in recent years,” he said, adding that that the state would still be picking up the majority of the public schools’ funding with the county providing 42 percent of the total.
According to Roberts’ proposal, $5.3 million of the overall $8.4 million proposed increase would support a 4-percent employee pay raise.
Another $1.34 million would net 19½ additional positions, including a new gifted and talented teacher, one utility worker, three custodians, five special education teachers and 15½ paraprofessionals.
The proposed increase also includes $1.37 million for rising utility costs, while the county schools’ contribution to employee healthcare and retirement benefits is expected to climb by $1.33 million.
School officials also expect the purchase of additional textbooks, a new lease for computers and office equipment and an increase in transportation costs to cost another $1.1 million.
Those increases would in turn be offset by roughly $2 million in savings incurred through employee turnover and dozens of small spending reductions.
Administrators have said the proposed spending plan would improve the student-to-teacher ratio at the elementary school level, improve the countywide student-to-computer ratio, increase the per-pupil allocation to individual schools by $2, fund the replacement of 15 school buses and expand the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Academy to all five high schools.
The budget also proposes eliminating free summer school for elementary school students in favor of funding academic intervention programs during the regular school year.sgoss@cecilwhig.com