School spending plan gets 1st look tonight*Budgets have increased at least $10 million in each of last three years

 sgoss@cecilwhig.com Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 1:00 am | Updated: 11:54 am, Wed Nov 25, 2009. By Scott Goss

The Cecil County Board of Education will begin hearings tonight on Superintendent Carl Roberts’ proposed spending plan for the 2007-08 school year.
The actual figures haven’t been released yet, but as a guideline, operating budgets have increased at least $10 million in each of the last three years.
Tonight’s hearing, initially scheduled for Feb. 13, was postponed by snow and ice that shut down county schools for 2½ days last week.
Central office administrators are expected to present the school board with the first half of Roberts’ spending plan, including proposed funding for administrative costs, bus transportation and building maintenance.
A second hearing, on Feb. 26, will focus on Roberts’ proposed spending for teacher salaries, classroom supplies, special education and school lunches.
A public comment period is scheduled prior to the budget presentations tonight and next week.
The school board will also hold a public hearing on Roberts’ entire proposal March 6. The board will then reconvene March 12 to vote on whether to send an approved or amended version of the superintendent’s request on to the Cecil County commissioners.
So far, little concrete information about Roberts’ request for the 2007-08 school year has been released.
Last month, Roberts and his staff presented the school board with a lengthy list of enhancements that administrators had proposed for inclusion in his formal budget request.
But those items were not finalized and their presentation did not include details of their anticipated cost.
Some of the items that could be under discussion tonight include funding for new radios and digital cameras, new printing equipment, 16 new school buses, nine new custodian and technician positions, additional staff to assist with construction projects and possibly a number of new vans, trucks and plows.
The school system’s approved operating budget for the current year topped $160 million — up more than $14 million over the 2005-06 school year.
County government funded $65 million, or about 41 percent, of the school system’s operating budget this year. State government, meanwhile, funded $85.7 million, or 53 percent, with the federal government picking up the remaining $9 million.
Last year’s increase in the schools operating budget also followed increases worth more than $10 million in both 2004 and 2005.