MC schools brace for big cuts

Local schools may receive close to $1 million less state funding this coming fiscal year, according to officials.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine recently announced a revised two-year budget plan that attempts to close a $2.9 billion shortfall due to lower than expected state income numbers, according to recent media reports.

“It’s very serious,” Madison County Superintendent Brenda Tanner said of the revised plan that she said would cut more than $900,000 in state funding.
The cut funding would have paid for basic school aid used for a variety of things, including salaries and instruction-related expenses and building maintenance, Tanner said.

Schools staff members have not yet determined the details of how they will account for the cuts within their budget, according to the superintendent.
“With a decrease in state revenue that is this significant it will…affect out programs and services. It’s too large a decrease in revenue for it not to affect what we’re doing,” Tanner said. 

School officials will spend the next few weeks developing the budget based off of the proposed state funding numbers provided by the governor’s office, although these numbers may change, Tanner said.

During the 2008-2009 fiscal year, Madison County schools received about $200,000 less in state funding than the previous fiscal year, the superintendent said.