Amelia School Board budget would cut $1 million in spending

AMELIA -- The Amelia County School Board is considering a $17.2 million budget for next year.

The proposed budget, presented to the board by Superintendent David Gangel and recently outlined, includes at least $1 million in reduced state funding but also includes funding from a federal grant.

Last year's budget was $18.2 million.

Gangel's proposal calls for level funding from the county.

"My goal in developing the budget was to try to retain our current level of educational service to students by retaining all current staff," Gangel wrote in the budget summary. The proposal does not contain any salary increases.

The School Board is scheduled to adopt its budget March 17.

As part of the budget-cutting measures, three teaching positions would be cut, including a vacancy for a middle school math specialist. A specialeducation teacher is being shifted from the elementary school to the middle school, and a noncontract special-education position is being lost at the high school.

School Board member Henry Featherston has presented 10 suggestions for cuts, including hiring a professional finance officer and increasing class sizes by two students. Also on the list are cuts to office personnel at the schools and in the central office.

"I'm not saying cut somebody out, I'm saying using our resources where they are needed," board member Gary Lunsford said.

Featherston said the system should also review all programs that are not required. "I don't know which ones they are, but we can go through and look," he said.

The General Assembly is still developing its budget proposal, and school officials hope it will not call for deeper cuts than those called for in Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's budget.

"We cut everything we can cut," Gangel said. "But if they ask for more cuts than those Governor Kaine asked for, we've got nowhere else to go."

Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 223-3678 or .