Lynchburg schools considering cuts as deficit estimate grows

Lynchburg City Schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick said Tuesday the division might need to cut more than a fifth of its operating budget next year.

At a school board meeting, McKendrick presented new budget figures that show a possible $17.8 million shortfall and shared some of the options for cuts he is considering as he prepares to submit a budget proposal to the board. For the first time, he raised the possibility of closing elementary schools, but did not name any schools in particular.

The cuts would be “devastating to the school system,” board chairwoman Mary Ann Barker said.

McKendrick said he was concerned about the potential impact that closing schools might have on pre-K education in the city. He said he was unsure how much could be saved by closing schools and wanted more clarity before proposing any school closures to board members.

Other possible considerations McKendrick mentioned included increasing class sizes, reducing central office staff, cutting school bus stops and electives and eliminating or reducing junior varsity and middle school sports.

“We are going to look more like we did 10 or 15 years ago than what we looked like five years ago,” McKendrick said, if current budget scenarios are realized.

Board member Charlie White asked of the free-falling revenue numbers, “Things seem to be have deteriorated by the day — do we have a sense of whether we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?”

McKendrick replied, “Up until last Friday, I thought we were at the end of the tunnel.”

The new deficit figure is more than double the previous estimate of $8.16 million.

It includes a more than $15 million decrease in state and local revenues and a $2.75 million increase in spending for employee retirement and benefits.

Previous estimates did not include $2.18 million in stimulus funding that the division received this year but will not get next year and $1.74 million from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal to unfreeze the composite index, which determines the amount of state funding school divisions receive.McDonnell is also expected to cut an additional $723 million from K-12 education in Virginia. Lynchburg’s share is estimated at $2.95 million, according to the Virginia School Board Association.

In total, the figures would represent cutting 21 percent of the operations budget.

At the recommendation of chairwoman Barker, school board members voted to endorse a resolution to recommend freezing the composite index. Board members Darin Gerdes and Albert Billingsly voted against the resolution with all others voting in favor.

Gerdes also said he opposed the idea of Lynchburg raising taxes to provide more money to the schools.

Some possible cuts being considered:

High schools:

Centralize or eliminate some foreign language programs
Cuts or centralizations of some Career Tech classes
Increased physical education class sizes
Reduce one counselor per high school
English: Combine and eliminate programs
Mathematics: Combine dual enrollment programs; increase class sizes in a number of courses
Cultural Arts: Consider enrollments in drama courses; consider enrollments in strings program; review staffing, retirements and enrollments

Middle schools:

English: Consider changes in language arts staffing
Mathematics: Eliminate PETAL program
Physical Education: Increase class sizes
Eliminate one assistant principal per secondary school

Elementary schools

Closing of Elementary School(s)
Increased Class Sizes in Elementary Schools
Reduce elementary assistant principals to part-time

Other Changes

Scaling down or changes to Transportation Routes/Practices
Review calendar changes for savings
Review/Eliminate electives with fewer than 13 students
Reduce or eliminate employee raises
Review employee contributions to insurance, Virginia Re-tirement System
Elimination of summer school program for students seeking graduation credits
Reduce central office staffing
Eliminate stimulus funded po-sitions
Eliminate/reduce middle school and/or ninth grade athletics
Salary Reductions