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$20.1 million budget OK'd for city schools
Superintendent Scott Kizner
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
A revised $20.1 million budget, reflecting the loss of about $613,000 in local funds, was unanimously approved by the Martinsville School Board on Monday for the new fiscal year that will start July 1.
The city schools will proceed with plans to cut 52 jobs, including teachers and other professionals, due to losses of state and local funds.
The $20,165,934 spending plan is $3,589,506 less than the budget for the current fiscal year. It includes $5,826,394 in city funds, which is $612,857 less than the schools received for fiscal 2010.
It also reflects a loss of $1,811,966 in regular state funds and $1,074,488 from other sources, mostly federal stimulus funds passed through the state.
School board members said little about the fiscal 2011 budget before they approved it.
According to city schools Superintendent Scott Kizner, the 52 positions to be eliminated will result in about 31 people losing their jobs. The other positions will be cut through attrition, such as people retiring or leaving on their own initiative.
Kizner said school system administrators are meeting with workers who will lose their jobs. He said that if employees do not get notification by June 1 that their jobs will end, they can assume that they will have jobs in the coming school year.
Also during its special meeting Monday, the school board approved spending up to $100,000 in funds from the current fiscal year to buy a new boiler for the Martinsville Middle School gymnasium.
The current boiler is about 40 years old and in danger of failing, Kizner said.
"It needs to be replaced before it completely shuts down," he said.
If it were to fail later this year, it might cause the middle school to have to cancel its basketball season this fall, he added.
The board named Pam Heath acting superintendent, effective when Kizner leaves his job on June 30 to be superintendent of the Harrisonburg schools.
Heath is the city schools' executive director of accreditation, human resources and policy development.
The board had named Heath interim superintendent. Kizner said that under bylaws, she officially must be named acting superintendent instead.
Also, the board found out that Albert Harris Elementary School was hit by lightning early Monday morning, but no major damage occurred.
Board members praised the Martinsville Fire Department for its prompt response after alarms went off and its thorough check of the school.
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