proposed budget

By MICHELLE J. WILSON

Staff Writer

Published Aug. 24, 1999

A preliminary budget for the Troy Board of Education has left school officials looking at where to trim $91,000.

Gary Carter presented Troy Board of Education with a proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year at a specially called meeting Monday night.

The school system has budgeted more than it did last year because of increased local revenue, said Carter, who is custodian of school funds for Troy City School System.

Total revenue is $12,502,039 and expenditures are $12,593, 241. The difference is $91,202.

"This is better than in past years," Carter said. "We were several thousand dollars over revenue last year."

The funding the school system receives is based on its average daily membership or 2,211.16 students, said Henry W. "Hank" Jones, superintendent of Troy City Schools.

The largest expenses are for instructional services at $7,170,297 and instructional support services at $1,850,013, according to the budget.

"We worked very hard to work towards balancing the budget," Jones said. "Salaries and fringe benefits take a significant portion."

The purpose of the first reading is to conduct an overview of the budget and for the board to hear citizens’ input. Although several school system administrators were present at the meeting, no one had any comments.

"This is an input meeting," Jones said. "This is not final and there are other funding sources that have not been included.

"The purpose of this hearing is to gather information."

A first and second reading of the budget are required by state law, he said. The board will hold a second reading, but the date was not set.

In other business, the board unanimously approved Jones’ recommendation to amend the school year calendar. The change was needed because the Alabama Legislature funded two additional days, he said.

Feb. 18 was a day students attended school. Now it will be a day for teachers and in-service employees only. Feb. 21 was a holiday for students and personnel, and it will now be a teacher work day.

The last day of school was also changed. It will be June 1 for students and June 2 for teachers. Previously, the last day of school for students was May 31, and teachers began summer break after June 1.

The board also unanimously approved to hire four instructional aides- Dana Benton, Angie Boyd, Shannon Boyd and Cathy Napper. They were hired to fill existing positions which the board was unable to fill before the start of school.

The board also unanimously voted to hire Joyce Deveridge as custodian of school funds for Troy City School System. Deveridge will replace Gay Carter who is retiring. Deveridge has been a long time system employee and the board is glad to have her take the position, Jones said.