School board approves budget with fewer job cuts

The Lynchburg City School Board approved Superintendent Paul McKendrick’s proposed budget for the 2010-2011 school year at a meeting on Tuesday, including last-day changes that saved 30 positions.

The budget cuts 66 full-time staff positions, instead of the 96 recently proposed. Thirty-one positions are teachers, three are administrators and 32 are other staff.

McKendrick said he changed his proposals for staff cuts after lunch on Tuesday, in response to news that the division would be required to contribute about $2.8 million less than estimated to the Virginia Retirement System.

School Board member Darin Gerdes was the only board member to vote against the superintendent’s budget. Gerdes said he disagreed with keeping staff at the expense of delaying school needs like the purchase of textbooks. He predicted that the school division would continue to face challenges in balancing the budget in the years ahead without greater permanent cuts.

“If we restore these positions we will be short-term heroes and long-term villains,” Gerdes said.

Other board members voiced a sense of relief about the $77.7 million budget, which is about $8.75 million less than the 2009-2010 amended budget.

“Last week and this week have been an absolute pleasure compared to the past weeks and months,” School Board Vice Chairman Tom Webb said. “We started out scared to death we were at $17.8 million (to cut).”

School board members also voted separately to close the Hutcherson Early Learning Center and move those programs to available space at Perrymont Elementary School, and to adopt a calendar with fewer, longer days. Those changes helped form the basis for McKendrick’s budget.

In addition to the late changes to staff cuts, McKendrick eliminated his proposed requirement that school staff members contribute to their VRS retirement. School Board member Regina Dolan-Sewell suggested that McKendrick consider sparing cuts to health benefits instead, which she said could have a greater impact for the school employees that make the least. Other school board members also voiced a similar concern but agreed to pass the budget as-is, if McKendrick would look into the feasibility of Dolan-Sewell’s suggestion.

Under the school board budget, class sizes at the elementary school level would increase from about 18 students to 19.9 on average. McKendrick expects some class size increases at the high schools and middle schools as well, but mostly in elective classes.

Other instructional changes include the elimination of for-credit high school summer classes and the third session of alternative education at the Amelia PRIDE Center. The school has had three sessions throughout the day but Director for Alternative Education Linda Cole said there have been fewer students in the 3:30 p.m. session, so administrators decided that those students could be combined into the two earlier sessions.

Other changes include reduction of central office department funds by 10 percent, reorganization of the custodial staff and measures to conserve energy. High school students will see increased parking fees.

Looking ahead, school officials discussed plans to consider changes to elementary school districts in the city. McKendrick said that he preferred that an outside company draw up such plans and does not want to rush to adjust districts before the beginning of school next year.

The superintendent has been invited to present the school budget at the next city council meeting on Tuesday.