By Anita Firebaugh
Contributing Writer
Since the Virginia General Assembly has settled on a budget, the Craig County School Board when it met March 12, 2024, was able to take a look at numbers for the first time in this budget period. The School Board met in the school auditorium.
While the state budget had not been signed by the governor at the time of this writing, the version currently before local governments indicates that the required local effort to support the school system would increase, Superintendent Dwayne Huff reported.
“We’ve gone from $1.6 million to just over $2 million,” in required local effort, he said. The required local effort is money that the Virginia General Assembly has mandated localities must pay for public schools.
Craig County has funded the required local effort and not given many extra dollars to the school system since 2016, Huff said. At that time, local funding decreased by about $60,000 and the county has given the school system even funding of about $1.82 million each year since. “All during that time inflation has increased significantly,” Huff said. “I hope the Board of Supervisors will recognize how we need to make up some ground here.”
Additionally, if the local government can come up with another $210,000 or so, the schools could receive an additional $520,000 in state funding. Otherwise, the funding would be left on the table, Huff said. Last year the school budget was $7.5 million, plus the cafeteria fund. This year the budget has a “pretty significant jump” to over $8 million, plus the cafeteria fund.
Huff noted that with the increase in real estate values due to the 2023 reassessment, the county could conceivably raise a bit more money to give the schools. “Hopefully we can do that without being too big a burden on landowners and farmers,” Huff said. He expressed concern that if the supervisors do not increase funding, the school system would be left with level funding for another six years.
The state budget includes a 3 percent raise for teachers for two years, too, Huff said.
The school system submitted a proposed capital improvement plan to the county administrator in recent weeks. The school has requested funding for two full-sized buses and five minivans. “The minivans have served us better,” Huff reported. The minivans would replace several older Crown Vic vehicles.
Additionally, the school system needs to upgrade the boiler system due to its age and leaking plumbing.
Another item on the list is a new bus garage facility. “The old bus garage is undersized,” Huff said. “We would like to move it here on site and upgrade our fuel systems.” This project is on a five-year plan and Huff said he hopes to find grants for the anticipated $1.2 million cost.
The school grounds also need some care and repair. He would like to upgrade the track facility so that students are no longer running on gravel, and improve the drainage on the football field. He would also like to build a training facility or field house that would benefit all of the county’s sports programs.
“The weight room is in a classroom on the main hallway of the high school,” Huff reported. “We have a lot of equipment stored out back.” The equipment in storage tends to mold or mildew because it’s not in a climate controlled area, he said.
The school system has a budget meeting with county officials scheduled for March 21, Huff said.
In other items, the superintendent reported that spring sports are underway along with field repairs and maintenance.
Additionally, he had another contractor in to give an estimate on new roofing at the school, making three quotes. A decision on the bids would be made in the near future, Huff said. He is also looking at a solar project to help with costs.
The school board also approved the gifted and talented committee and plan, which outlines how the schools deal with gifted students. They also agreed to let the 4-H program use a bus this summer, with the 4-H program paying for the bus driver and fuel.
The school board also agreed to make Easter Monday, April 1, an employee holiday instead of a teacher workday.
The school board also discussed the sale of surplus items, including wood lathes and other woodworking equipment, and considered how to best implement a new welding program so that students do not have to go to BTech in Botetourt County for their educational needs. They continued that discussion until their next meeting.
Huff also made a point of saying that he wanted, “all staff to know my door is open all the time and I welcome and encourage all to visit especially when it has something to do with making our schools better.”
