Get ready for school cuts around the Richmond region

The same night Chesterfield County's school superintendent was delivering the news of a $38.4 million budget shortfall for the coming year, members of the Hanover County School Board sat stone-faced as their superintendent gave a similar, sobering message.

"Given the continued deterioration of the economy . . . we do know that we should lower any expectations about any new spending," Stewart D. Roberson said during the board meeting Tuesday, reading from a prepared statement.

Roberson isn't scheduled to present his 2009-10 budget to the board until Jan. 13. That he took the time this week to prepare board members for the impending budget season emphasized the seriousness of what's to come.

Hanover and Chesterfield aren't alone. Across the area, school divisions are bracing for the next wave of bad news.

Cumberland County Superintendent James Thornton said his school division has saved money this year by not buying new textbooks and instructional supplies. He said the School Board asked the Board of Supervisors to roll the savings over for the 2009-10 school year, when the county could lose $600,000 to $1.2 million. If the system loses the money it's projecting, it will mean losing teachers, Thornton said.

Dinwiddie County is anticipating a reduction in state funding of up to 15 percent, or $4.5 million, Superintendent Charles Maranzano Jr. said. That could lead to eliminating salary increases or even reducing salaries, cutting the work force, and consolidating services, he said.

For the current school year, Dinwiddie is not hiring for vacant positions, limiting field trips and other travel expenses, and cutting back on school supplies.

King and Queen County Superintendent Richard W. Layman said his small school division started the current school year with a $831,000 reduction, 7.5 percent of its budget. The school division eliminated summer school and travel, consolidated classrooms, and won't be buying new textbooks. If the school system faces more cuts for 2009-10, "I don't know how we'd operate," Layman said.

King William County Superintendent Mark R. Jones said he has cut 10 percent from each department for the current school year and has hired people only for required positions, such as special education. He said the school system also has planned three budget scenarios, with cuts at 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent.

Louisa County Superintendent Deborah Pettit said the school system was asked to give scenarios of what 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent losses of funding would mean for this school year. If the reduction were 15 percent, that would result in the loss of $3 million. To make up for the shortfall, personnel would be cut, Pettit said.

To brace the school system for the 2009-10 budget, "we're looking at no cost-of-living increases or pay raises," Pettit said. She also said the student-teacher ratio would increase with the reduction of staff, "hopefully through attrition."

New Kent County Superintendent J. Roy Geiger II said his division's budget shortfall will be among the biggest ever, though he declined to say how much until he has more information about state and local revenue projections. No new programs and no new positions will be included in next year's budget, he said. "And that is minimal," he said, implying that more cuts probably will be necessary.

Petersburg's school system could end the current budget year with a surplus. However, Superintendent James M. Victory said cuts are expected for the 2009-10 school year. Among the measures could be a hiring freeze, reducing the number of teachers, cutting athletic programs, eliminating field trips, and cutting staff development and travel, the school system's director of finance said.

Prince George County Superintendent R. Francis Moore said for the current school year, the system has scaled back purchases, cut the number of personnel attending conferences, and limited field trips. As the system is preparing its budget for 2009-10, Moore said the system is not looking to add staff or programs.

In Richmond, Budget Director Lynn Bragga has prepared ways to cut costs by 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent. There are no formal cuts for the current budget that runs through June 30, but the school system has altered its spending, spokeswoman Felicia Cosby said. The biggest change has been limiting hiring to "mission-critical" positions, she said.

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Other school systems are adopting a wait-and-see approach or are not anticipating cuts.

Colonial Heights Superintendent Joseph O. Cox Jr. said he's not going to talk about possible cuts until seeing Kaine's budget. "It's prudent to wait until that time," Cox said. "Rightly so, people are curious about what will happen."

Henrico County schools aren't making any big changes -- yet. The county is expecting to have some growth in student enrollment next year, Superintendent Fred S. Morton said.

"If the budget is the same amount and we experience student growth, we're going to have to make some decisions," Morton said. "We're looking at transportation and travel. And we're not having any conversation about salary increases."

Sussex County "is well-protected for this year," Finance Director David Papenfuse said. He said the district builds in a cushion to absorb setbacks, and any necessary cuts are within projected limits. Work on next fiscal year's budget won't begin until after Kaine releases his budget projections next week.

Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Lisa Crutchfield, Zachary Reid and Jeremy Slayton contributed to this report.