Increased enrollment could lessen budget blows for Appomattox schools

By: Duffy Taylor | New Era Progress
Published: March 23, 2010

An enrollment increase of 80 students in the Appomattox County school system this year will soften the blow state education cuts will have on the county in the coming year, said Superintendent Dorinda Grasty at a joint meeting between the school board and county supervisors Monday night.

The higher number will bring an additional $616,000 in revenue from the state, she said.

That revenue, along with aid from carryover stimulus funds, reduces the school board’s shortfall to $280,000 for the 2010-11 budget year and puts the county in a better position than many of its neighbors.

Without the aid, the school board’s budget shortfall would have exceeded $1 million, she added.

Grasty said she couldn’t pinpoint a specific reason behind the higher enrollment number, summing it up as “a miracle change in direction.”

Layoffs and furloughs would likely not be necessary, she said, though she added that nothing was certain until the school board receives final numbers from federal, state and local sources.

The county’s 260 school employees could shoulder other costs, either by paying higher insurance premiums or a portion of their retirement fund, she said.

She added that the shortfall amount did not include expenditures, only revenues.

The business director for the schools, William Perrow, advised the boards to consider saving for the 2011-12 budget year, when they might not benefit from additional revenue or stimulus money.

Grasty said the school board would submit its budget to the board of supervisors by April 1.