Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990 TAG: 9003300812
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The $62.1 million spending plan gives teachers an average pay raise of 5.2 percent, above the state mandate of 5 percent, but sets the non-teacher pay raise at 5 percent.
Board member Paul Black was disappointed in the scaled-back salary increase for administrative and non-classified personnel, which was cut to balance the budget.
"We cannot continue to fund budgets like this where we can't give our administrative and support staff fair treatment," he said.
The 0.2 percentage point reduction amounts to less than $27,000 in the overall budget - a small price to pay to show non-teacher employees that they are appreciated, he said.
The reduced increase, he added, also gives qualified teachers less incentive to move into administrative positions.
Board Chairman Frank Thomas said several county supervisors have told him that they would work to meet the 5.2 percent raise for all school personnel.
"I'm hoping that after they look at the total county budget, they can find some money for this," Thomas said.
He promised Black and other board members that he would urge the Board of Supervisors, which still must approve the school budget next month, to provide the additional funding.
Black voted against adopting the budget, which was approved 3-1. Board member Barbara Chewning was absent.
Charlsie Pafford voted to adopt the budget with reservations. "Very reluctantly because I know we don't have a choice, yes," Pafford said when voting.
She was upset because school administration officials lowered their original estimates on the cost of the school employees' group health plan.
School officials believe the schools likely won't have to pay out as much in health care costs as had been predicted.
But Pafford was concerned that the estimates would come back much higher than the new prediction, and that would force the board to make additional budget cuts.
She was particularly worried about the future of eight teachers' aides included in next year's spending plan. She said the positions likely would be the first to go if cuts had to be made, adding that the county couldn't afford to lose them.
Thomas and Superintendent Bayes Wilson, however, assured her that the lowered estimate is accurate and that cuts probably wouldn't be needed.
Wilson said that if the worst does occur and cuts do need to be made, then all budget items with the exception of salaries - not just one program - would be trimmed.
Thomas added, "I guess as the old saying goes, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Board member Maurice Mitchell also was reluctant in approving the spending plan.
The 1989-90 school budget accounts for approximately 48 percent of the county budget. Mitchell said next year's budget also will amount to about that much and he doesn't like the trend.
"I think we need to do more to at least get that back up to 50 percent and, quite frankly, higher than that," he said. "For the record, I'd like to carry that message to the Board of Supervisors. Maybe we can't do it this year, but maybe in the future."
The $62.1 million budget is an increase of slightly more than 4.7 percent over the current budget. It was reported earlier that the increase was about 6.4 percent, but that figure has been adjusted.
The adjustment was made because the board is asking the supervisors to appropriate $500,000 from the 1990-91 school budget to compensate for a shortfall in the current budget.
Also, the budget as adopted did not include any capital improvement plans. Those will be discussed April 10 during a joint meeting between the School Board and supervisors.
by CNB