Chesterfield County schools face $40 million to $50 million in budget cuts, officials announced today, and school officials have proposed cuts that include laying off hundreds of teachers, implementing furloughs and eliminating all county financial support for athletics.
The school district sent a letter and a survey yesterday to employees laying out the budget situation and asking them to choose $40 million in cuts from a list. Those cuts include raising the pupil to teacher-student ratio by one student, which would save $6 million, while reducing 112 teachers.
Other options in the survey include increasing the teacher-pupil ratio by two, which would eliminate 224 teachers and save $12 million. School officials are also proposing two to eight furlough days for employees, which would save $3.5 million to $14 million.
The proposal also includes reducing by $120,000 funding for specialty centers and eliminating all financial support --$1.8 million-- for athletics.
The budget gap grew from the previous $25 million to $30 million estimate when Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's proposed budget removed $19.5 million in federal stimulus money that the county's school system had designated for the 2011 budget, said Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome in a letter that went to employees yesterday.
The school district made $32 million in cuts for the current school year and used $19 million in federal stimulus money to keep about 300 employees.
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