Board Adopts Budget

At its meeting on March 23, the Radford City School Board adopted the 2010-11 school division budget. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the budget development process this year was especially difficult as state revenue forecasts very early on indicated that funding for education was going to be cut significantly. So, it was no surprise when our actual budget numbers came in from the General Assembly. How much was cut?

In terms of operating funds alone, the adopted budget reflects a decrease of $895,424 from the 2009-10 budget. In order to close the gap, the Board left seven positions vacated through retirement or resignation unfilled for the 2010-11 school year. Leaving these positions unfilled will require a reassignment of some staff within the division. Line items involving travel, maintenance materials and supplies, and capital outlay were reduced for the second consecutive year. The final portion of the reduction was accomplished by applying significantly reduced VA Retirement System rates. In addition to our operating fund, budgets for textbooks, food service, grants, and capital projects will also be reduced.

Development of a budget with cuts of this magnitude requires a collaboration between individual schools and departments within the school division. Each school administrator and each director was requested to come to the table with suggested cuts to be presented to the board. Each member of our division leadership team contributed significantly to the process by providing solutions to our funding deficit. Throughout the process, our primary concern was meeting the needs of our students. As a result, we were able to collectively propose a budget that minimized the impact on children. This is certainly not an ideal budget, but one that we can live with under difficult circumstances.

While other school divisions are dealing with cuts from both the Commonwealth and the locality, we are very fortunate that the City of Radford has held firm in its commitment to our school system. I have communicated often with our City Manager, David Ridpath, regarding the state of the overall budget for the city. Even though Mr. Ridpath has shared that the city is expecting less money as well, he has recommended that City Council fund our schools at the same level as past years. For that, we are extremely appreciative.

As supporters of our schools, we certainly want you to know and understand our budget situation for the 2010-11 school year. While many of our citizens are "tightening their belts", your school system is doing the same. As always, thank you for all that you do to support our school system.