THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412220550
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
School officials, facing a shortfall of as much as $7.4 million this budget year, have called a halt to some hiring and spending to try to make ends meet.
Most of the shortage is predicted to come from a drop in student enrollment that could mean as much as $4.6 million less in state money than expected. The rest, $2.8 million, was carried over from purchases made during the last budget year that must be paid for now.
To keep the school system in the black, Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette has called for tough measures, including an order that only vacancies for employees who work directly with children, such as teachers and bus drivers, can be filled without permission. All other new workers must be approved by Faucette himself.
Faucette also has put a moratorium on purchases of all vehicles and any materials or equipment that are not used directly for children. Faucette must approve any equipment purchase over $50,000. School employees must reduce out-of-city travel by 10 percent.
Top school administrators plan a summit in mid-January to assess the money crunch.
Meanwhile, Faucette said, ``There has not been any freeze placed on funding out in the schools.''
Largely to blame for the dilemma, Faucette said, is a quirk in the way the state allocates school money. Every year, the state requires schools to hire enough staff to cover student enrollment as of Sept. 30, but bases its funding on March 31 enrollment, which typically drops somewhat from the fall, Faucette said.
``It's really a state issue,'' said Mordecai L. Smith, the school system's director of budget development. ``If we could get the state to close that gap, then we wouldn't have this problem.''
Last school year was the first time that Beach schools showed a larger than expected decline in student enrollment, which dropped about 2 percent between September and March, Faucette said.
``It was a madhouse around here'' when less state money than expected came in last year, he said. ``We were scrapping at the end of the year.
``The truth of it is, we didn't track it as well as we should have.''
This year, he said, the school system is starting early, counting enrollment and revising state money estimates monthly. School planners are predicting a 2.5 percent drop in student enrollment by March.
``Quite frankly, I don't think the ADM (a formula for enrollment) is going to go down that much,'' Faucette said. ``But it's better to be safe than sorry.''
Next year, to be safe, Faucette and Smith said they will budget slightly less state money than they are projected to receive.
The budget shortage comes as some School Board members are expressing other concerns about the way money is being spent.
Board member Robert W. Hall said he was worried about specific areas of the budget that appear to be headed for the red. Hall said he believes school officials should work now to shift money from some parts of the budget into other areas that need it, before money gets tight later in the year. by CNB