Published: September 25, 2008 08:04 pm      

School board to make budget cuts Friday

he Cumberland County Board of Education plans to make more cuts to its budget during a special-called meeting Friday in order to comply with the amount of funding recently alloted by the county. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the boardroom at Central Office.

Earlier this week, the Cumberland County Commission approved a motion to give the school system 12 cents from the county's debt service line for one year. The 12-cent transfer is expected to bring the county funding level up to $13.9 million of the $46 million school budget, which is the bare minimum required by the state in order to meet the maintenance of effort.

Last Friday, the BOE held a special-called meeting to discuss the budget but refused to make any more cuts. Now, the BOE must decide where to cut $1.5 million and have its revised budget back to the county commission by Sept. 30 for approval.

The budget issue will also be addressed during the BOE's monthly meeting, which will be held Monday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in the boardroom. The topic will be brought up during the director of schools' report shortly after recommendations are made for the negotiation team, system testing coordinator and DHA committee.

Prior to this, the board will approve the minutes from four previous meetings and appoint a chairman, vice-chairman, parliamentarian, TLN representative and recorder.

A facilities update on the North Cumberland sewer proposal will be presented by Uplands architect Kim Chamberlain before a legal report is given on the sewer connection agreement and proposed contract with TRANE. This will be followed by committee reports and appointments and the monthly financial report by business manager Cindy Randol.

The school nutrition annual report will then be up for approval as well as grant proposals for Pleasant Hill and Stone elementary schools. Another item to be approved is the Stone Memorial High School cooperative program with Rockwood High School.

On the consent agenda, the following items are listed for approval: Stone Elementary's fundraising proposal; disposal of surplus property at Cumberland County High School; volunteers for CCHS, Stone Memorial High School and eight elementary schools including Crab Orchard, Homestead, Martin, North Cumberland, Pine View, Pleasant Hill, South Cumberland and Stone; and school trips for the CCHS cheerleaders and girls' basketball team, SMHS band, boys' basketball team and volleyball team, Stone Beta Club and career and technical education organizations.

The meeting will conclude with discussion on other old business and the date for the board's retreat.