Greene County schools are facing an unprecedented budget shortfall. School board members say enrollment is up, spending is at a bare minimum, and now, they're banking on county supervisors to help bridge this budget gap.
For a school system usually dealing with six-digit deficits, facing a $2.6 million shortfall is nothing short of shocking for Greene County. On top of that, school board members say the gap is full of mandatory spending handed down from the state.
"We're at the point now where we do not have the things to cut," Greene County School Board Chair Troy Harlow said.
When you break it down, more than half of that funding gap comes from Governor Bob McDonnell's proposed increase to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). Another $1 million or so is from a boost in the Local Composite Index (LCI). That formula takes into consideration factors like property values and incomes to figure out how much state aid schools should receive from the commonwealth. Because business is doing better in Greene, schools there are expected to be able to pay for more.
"It's unprecedented," Harlow explains. "I mean, this is something totally new so we want to be very proactive with the board of supervisors and the community so everyone will know and aware of what we have in front of us."
The preliminary numbers were in front of supervisors Tuesday night, as they faced the gap that adds up to almost 10 percent of the schools' budget. These daunting numbers are coming at a time when the board of supervisors is trying to keep the tax rate where it is.
"This economy has just ripped into some of the households, so we don't need to raise taxes," Greene County Board of Supervisors Chair Clarence "Buggs" Peyton said.
Now, the board will have to buckle down with this budget and figure out how to make it work without major cuts in the classroom.
Peyton said, "We plan for the worst and hope for the best, and I think we will see some improvement from the state in funding the education side of it."
"We need to get together and come up with a plan so that the impact on the community, the schools are minimal," Harlow added.
Looking at the numbers, Greene's projected school spending this time around is even less than 2010. School board members say they've cut all they can cut, and with more and more students coming through the doors, it's going to be a particularly tough budget season.
The school board is also bracing for this deficit to increase, even potentially reaching $3 million by the time things are figured out in Richmond. Members are waiting to make the final call on cuts until they see the state numbers finalized.
