Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Friday, February 26, 2010
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
The Martinsville School System could lose 10 percent of its staff because of state funding cuts, Superintendent Scott Kizner said after a public hearing Thursday.
A proposed budget has not yet been finalized because the school division is awaiting the state Senate and House of Delegates to reconcile their budget bills, Kizner said.
At a public hearing Thursday, Kizner presented figures projecting how budget plans by Gov. Bob McDonnell, the Senate and the House of Delegates would impact the school division.
He said the figures for the Senate plan are the closest of the three to being accurate, mainly because that estimate reflects how much less the state would require the school division to contribute to the Virginia Retirement System. The estimates for McDonnell’s and the House’s budget plans do not reflect the VRS adjustment.
None of the budget plans reflects adjustments to the school division’s average daily membership, a measure of student enrollment, Kizner said.
The school division would receive $2,098,431 in state revenues less than this fiscal year under the Senate plan, $3,318,960 less than this year under the House plan and $2,853,177 less than this year under McDonnell’s plan, Kizner said.
Under all three measures, the school system expects to lose 47 positions (minus 11 to be lost through retirements and attrition), which is a net loss of 36 positions, Kizner said.
The 47 positions include 12 teaching positions. Eight of those will be lost through retirements and attrition, so there would be a net loss of four positions.
The 47 also includes 35 nonteaching positions, including 12 teacher aides, two to four pupil personnel support (such as social workers, counselors and psychologists) and positions being such things as administrative, central office, clerical, transportation and maintenance posts, Kizner said.
The 47 positions are about 10 percent of the school system’s work force of about 460 people, he said.
In all, 47 percent of the total cuts in the school system’s budget are targeted to be made in administration and support staff (nonteaching positions), 26 percent in nonpersonnel costs (for example, materials and utilities) and 27 percent in teacher reductions (preK-12), Kizner explained.
The school board already has approved closing Clearview Early Childhood Center at the end of the current school year, and its programs will be moved to other locations (mostly Albert Harris Elementary School). Closing the center will save the system an estimated $373,781, according to reports.
The system also will consolidate school bus routes for middle and high school students at an estimated annual savings of $72,182, school officials have said.
Kizner indicated he is not expecting cuts in arts, music and athletics.
He said he expects elementary class sizes will remain the same and that middle and high school class sizes will be the same or about the same.
At this point, Kizner said he does not plan to make any additional cuts.
For fiscal year 2009-2010, he said the city cut its contribution to the school system by $300,000. Now, he said he hopes the school system and Martinsville City Council can work together to resolve the budget crisis. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
