Richmond School Board OKs budget

School Board OKs budget The plan for Richmond's schools is $8 million less than this year's budget

The Richmond School Board approved Superintendent Yvonne W. Brandon's proposed $261.7 million budget for the next fiscal year on a 6-2-1 vote last night.

The budget, about $8 million less than this year's, now goes to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who will present his budget to the City Council on March 27. The School Board was scheduled to vote on its budget a month ago but put off making a decision after the City Council allowed Jones additional time to work on his budget.

"This is not the financial situation I would have liked for my first budget," said Brandon, who was named superintendent in January. "There are so many things near and dear to all us that were potentially on the chopping block."

The school plan includes two major assumptions: that city funding will remain at about $132.4 million and that federal stimulus funds will add about $6.5 million to school coffers for next year.

Even with the stimulus money, the school system will have to make substantial cuts from its current level of spending.

The biggest cut will be $6.9 million in salaries. Administrators are proposing cutting administrative staff -- though not active teachers -- and allowing vacant positions to remain unfilled.

The next biggest cut is in textbooks, for which the school system spent about $3 million this year but has budgeted only $598,000 for next year. That leaves enough money to purchase replacement texts but not to introduce a new series or implement a new program.

Smaller cuts include transportation for staff development and field trips.

A suggested cut of $181,600 for athletic funding -- about one-fifth of what is spent on coaching stipends and travel -- was the sole item Brandon proposed that wasn't accepted. It was restored at member Kim Bridges' suggestion.

The stimulus money is allowing the system to put off discussion of closing one of its 29 elementary schools. Such a move was part of an earlier proposal that anticipated $16 million in cuts.

Board member Norma MurdochKitt, though, suggested revisiting the possibility of closing an elementary school if it could mean keeping in place three elementary school guidance counselor positions scheduled to be eliminated.

Vice Chairwoman Kimberly B. Gray and Dawn Page, chairwoman of the board's finance committee, cast the two dissenting votes. Adria Graham-Scott abstained.

"This is about more than the people's money," Gray said before voting. "It's about the people's trust. Let's not disappoint the people."

She and several other board members continued to question the form in which the budget was presented. They wanted to see a line-item presentation, but they and school administrators disagreed over what that would look like.

The board and the administration agreed to work together as amicably as possible in anticipation of the board's June 15 vote on a final budget. The City Council's decision will come in May, and then the School Board will get the budget back for implementation.

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Earlier in the day, Brandon met in Washington with the government's top education official and other urban superintendents to discuss the education portion of the $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The school system's proposed budget is based on getting about $13 million in stimulus funds over the next two years.

"That's changing all the time," she said of the amount.

Some stimulus funds will go directly to school districts, while other money will flow through the states. Virginia is to receive an estimated $203.3 million for at-risk students under the total package. Richmond's $13 million is part of this total.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said additional competitive grants will go to school systems that commit to significant reforms, such as extending school days and holding class on weekends and through the summer to help improve graduation rates.

"Perpetuating the status quo is not going to get us where we need to go," said Duncan. "That will basically eliminate those schools or districts from the competition."

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .

Neil Simon of the Media General News Bureau in Washington contributed to this report.