Amherst County School Board OKs budget with some changes

Amherst County School Board approved its 2009-2010 budget Thursday after small modifications.

The county Board of Supervisors passed its budget Tuesday allocating about $14 million to the schools, but providing $200,000 less than requested by the school board. Schools officials were charged with amending their approximately $50 million budget Thursday, and did so without affecting personnel.

“They recognized our need and stepped up the best they could,” Superintendent Brian Ratliff said of the supervisors’ decision to award the division less than the $490,000 they initially requested.

Ratliff, who remarked that he was appreciative of the supervisors’ efforts, said he anticipates increased health insurance costs will not be as high as the board previously budgeted. The school system’s original budget included a 12 percent hike in health care costs.

Ratliff said negotiations are nearing an end and a worst-case scenario would have the costs only increasing by about 2.75 percent or $53,620. The difference between what was budgeted and the likely cost is $180,356.

At the next board meeting on May 14, Ratliff said he will bring insurance recommendations to the board for discussion.

Additionally, he said savings realized through attrition was budgeted lower than expected. The original budget showed a savings of $100,000 through attrition. Ratliff said he is comfortable anticipating $119,644.

Board members said they felt comfortable with the budget amendments in the areas of attrition and health insurance. They unanimously OK’d the budget, which closed the book on a lengthy process that started in December.

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The board briefly reviewed preliminary Standards of Learning writing scores. Ratliff stressed the numbers weren’t official, but were a good sign. With many schools posting gains, officials were pleased with the initial report.

Central Elementary School, which had only a 55.3 percent pass rate last year and was accredited with warning, had a preliminary pass rate of 74.47 percent, almost a 20-point gain.