Bristol, Va., School Board Approves Budget Cuts

BRISTOL, Va. – At a meeting framed by heavy sighs and strained faces, the city School Board on Monday approved slashing $1.6 million to balance its fiscal 2009-10 budget.

First outlined in late March, the final cuts include six teaching positions and two administrative positions, along with two full- and three part-time support positions. A full-time bus mechanic’s job has been reduced to part-time.

The division’s $24.6 million spending plan includes no wage increases, reducing or eliminating pay supplements for athletics and activities and trimming the number of paid working days for employees on nearly all levels.

“This has been an agonizing process,” board Chairman Ronald Cameron said during the called meeting. “We’ve wrangled with this for months now. We’ve had meetings, workshops and met with the city. Nobody likes where we are and it’s nobody’s fault. But we’ve had to make across-the-board cuts to get to the $1.6 million.”

The plan will now be sent to the City Council, for a planned May 26 public hearing on the city’s fiscal 2009-10 budget.

“This is all based on level funding from the city. If that gets cut, we’ll have to adjust,” Cameron said.

The city’s proposed budget includes the same $8.8 million in school funding as the current fiscal year, but the council is expected to review the possible impact of an additional 5 percent cut.

“I don’t know that we have any kind of choice,” board member Randy White said during a 40-minute discussion. “We have to present something to the City Council. Until we hear back from them, I don’t know that we can fine-tune it any more. Nothing is set in stone, yet.”

About 100 employees can expect some financial impact from the supplement cuts and reduced schedules, Superintendent Ina Danko said.

Monday’s vote also included eliminating step raises for teachers and administrators with less than 20 years experience – a $166,000 savings.

The division also hopes to realize some additional savings through its recently completed changes to elementary school attendance zones, Danko said.

“We hope to eliminate two bus routes, but we just don’t know yet,” Danko said. “We’re re-designing our routes now.”

The changes could eliminate two bus driver positions, but nothing is finalized.

If there was any good news for school employees, it was that their individual insurance costs may not be going up.

“We’re still negotiating, but it looks like the 15 percent increase we budgeted will be enough,” Danko said. “If that happens, we won’t pass any increase on to the employees. That [employee increase] was part of the original budget.”

The spending plan includes funding two new nurse positions, which is part of a three-year program to improve health care for students. If they are hired, the division would then employ four full-time and two part-time nurses for its six schools.

The plan also includes preserving the International Baccalaureate program – a series of challenging academic courses available for Virginia High School juniors and seniors. Parents had rallied in support of the program in recent weeks, speaking at meetings and contacting board members.

“This was my fifth budget cycle. I thought the previous ones were hard, but they were nothing compared to what we went through this year,” Cameron said, eliciting a response from first-year board member Tyrone Foster.

“This was my first budget cycle. I’ve done some tough things in my life, but I probably haven’t done anything that was as tough like this.”

dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532