Dare County School Board Set to Adopt New Budget

By KRISTIN DAVIS

By KRISTIN DAVIS

The VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Sign-toting teachers and emergency meetings punctuated Dare County Schools’ budget process last year after educators asked for millions more in county funding. With teacher positions on the line, the debate was a strained and public one between the Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners that lasted until late June.

A repeat is not expected this year.

On Tuesday, the school board plans to adopt a 2007- 08 budget that asks for no more money than the county has already earmarked for education. The $18.85 million figure comes from a formula agreed upon by school board members and county commissioners in 2001. Called the per-pupil formula, it is based on enrollment and adjusts for cost-of-living increases.

“I’m very happy,” said Warren Judge, chairman of the Board of Commissioners. “That’s how the funding is supposed to work. That’s what we expect it to be. There will not be any problem.”

Educators’ initial 2006- 07 spending plan asked for about $5.5 million more than the county had budgeted, citing lost revenue, high energy costs and operating new schools. The school board decided to do things differently for 2007- 08, said school board Chairman David Oaksmith.

“We understand that the county is forced to do some belt- tightening” because revenues are down, he said. “We did some belt- tightening of our own. We worked our budget this year so we wouldn’t ask for more.”

Oaksmith said that because the school board relies on the county for money rather than having its own taxing authority, the two groups will always have a certain amount of friction.

“We’re very pleased overall with the funding we get from the county,” Oaksmith said. But “some things I don’t think we’re taking care of the way we should.”

To trim 2006- 07 costs, 20 teachers who resigned or retired were not replaced, and most won’t be in 2007- 08, Oaksmith said. Nor will three accountability specialists who helped coordinate testing.

That has led to bigger class sizes and more work for counselors, said Anna McGinnis, finance director for Dare County Schools. The 2007- 08 budget does provide a $400 increase in teacher supplements and a 5 percent raise on stipends for coaches and club and academic sponsors. Tuition reimbursements reduced last year would be restored, and some special programs would be expanded to other schools.

The budget also includes money for 11/2 new English-as-a-second- language positions at Manteo Elementary and Nags Head Elementary. The number of ESL students has increased from 137 to 224 since 2004 and “continues to grow,” McGinnis said.

Other budgeted additions include 21/2 new custodial positions, a full-time music teacher – instead of the current part-time position – at Hatteras Secondary School and foreign language classes at Manteo Elementary and Kitty Hawk Elementary.

The Board of Education’s proposed $48.88 million budget is about 3 percent more than last year. The county’s share of that would also be about 3 percent more – or $552,662. Typically, the state pays a little more than half of the budget for Dare County Schools, while the federal government pays for about 4 percent. Dare County picks up most of the rest.

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Reach Kristin Davis at (252) 441-1623 or kristin.davis@pilotonline.com.

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