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Everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools officials heard requests from various departments for the 2002-2003 budget. But the requests exceed revenue by $9 million, according to Finance Director Bill Bucher.
A request that came up in more than one budget was money to give guidance counselors some relief from the duty of testing.
At the top of middle school principals’ list is money for a new employee for each school to serve as a test coordinator/data manager.
West Rowan Middle School Principal Rick Hampton said the system has received a good deal of criticism concerning the guidance system. He admitted that some services have been diminished because of guidance counselors having to administer so many tests.
“They just don’t have but so many hours in the day,” he said.
In their budget proposal, middle school principals asked for $280,000 to create these new positions.
Two principals had additional individual requests.
China Grove Middle School Principal Don Bost is asking for an additional $12,000 to make his half-time guidance counselor full time. This would give his school two full-time guidance counselors.
Erwin Middle School Principal Kelly Sparger is asking for $20,000 to add a half-time guidance position. This would give Erwin two full-time and one part-time guidance counselors. Sparger is also asking for an additional $12,000 for an office assistant.
Guidance counselors across the system indicated to the committee that their top priority is a $1 million increase to put a testing coordinator in each school.
David Aycoth, a member of the school board, noted that some requests were overlapping.
Superintendent Dr. Wiley Doby agreed that this is a pressing issue “because counselors are having difficulty doing counseling ... which is needed.”
Also on the middle school wish list is $145,355 for wireless mobile computer labs and $5,000 for instructional curriculum planning guides.
Doby asked if anything could be eliminated from their budgets.
Hampton said if something had to go, he would suggest the $4,000 for Young Adult Visiting Authors.
Howard Hurt, associate superintendent for curriculum, asked why the middle school principals didn’t include requests for money for the Vision Works program or for Henderson Independent High School.
Vision Works is a middle school program — funded through grants and the juvenile justice system — that serves students who have been referred by the court system or who can’t go to Henderson.
Currently the system is not funding a teacher for the program.
Hurt said he has one slot open — for the program that serves about 20 students — and eight applicants. The principals agreed that Vision Works is a needed program.
Henderson Independent is an alternative high school. It also holds open three slots per middle school for eighth-graders.
Sparger said he would like to see more slots at Henderson for middle school students.
Southeast Middle School Principal Dr. Ron Turbyfill said it would be good to put more resources into Henderson and open spaces for 7th-grade students.
Hurt said they have three choices: expand the exceptional children programs at each school, put more money into Henderson or create a teaching job at Vision Works.
Transportation
Director Jim Christy is not asking for any capital outlay money or even an increase in the Transportation Department’s budget. As long as gas prices don’t go up, he said he thinks the department can operate under the same budget as this year.
Christy asked the committee to consider spreading the salary of a recently retired mechanic across the remaining 14 mechanics, instead of hiring another person.
After the employee retired in December, the remaining mechanics took on the additional work. “I’ve asked them to step up to the plate and they have,” Christy said.
He noted that mechanics in the school system make less than painters and that working in the private sector they could be making a good deal more money. Many of his mechanics have second jobs.
Media centers
Library Media and Textbook Services Director Sandra Andrews is trying to get the school media centers on a flexible schedule by 2005 to meet state expectations.
Flexible scheduling offers students more open hours and allows media center personnel to schedule time with teachers that benefits their classes’ course of learning.
To do this, Andrews is asking that the half-time media assistants at Bostian, Cleveland, Faith,Isenberg, Morgan, Mt. Ulla and Woodleaf elementary schools be made full-time. This would cost almost $87,000.
Andrews said she would also like to see a media center and coordinator at Henderson Independent High School that she says will cost just over $100,000. Currently the school has no media center.
Workforce
Workforce Development Director Eric Leazer has three priorities.
At the top of his list is $35,000 to send high school teachers for training at the annual High Schools That Work seminar. Each high school could send six teachers and two administrators.
Leazer is also asking for $3,500 for job shadowing, apprenticeships and internships, transportation and insurance and $3,000 for videos on career development for elementary, middle and high school.
Maintenance
Director of Maintenance Butch Bivens is requesting $1 million for a maintenance facility. Currently his department is operating out of six buildings — mostly former school buildings — and six trailers. None of these facilities has air conditioning and only two have heat. Bivens said the conditions are harder on the equipment stored than the employees.
On Monday, the committee meets again all day at Horizons Unlimited to review requests dealing with music, exceptional children, health, new teachers, elementary and high schools, technology and testing.
Once this committee has reviewed the budget, it will make a recommendation to the Board of Education’s finance committee, which will also review it and make a recommendation to the board of education in late April.
Contact Jillian McCartney at 704-797-4253 or jmccartney@salisburypost.com
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