School budget to be ‘tough,’ depends on state, county

By Erin McGrath

Published: November 12, 2008

The Nelson County School Board will hold a preliminary hearing at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 on the 2009-2010 operational budget, at the Nelson Middle School Library.

The school district holds the public hearing annually, said Nelson County Superintendant Roger Collins.

“It gives us an opportunity to listen to the priorities of parents and others in public session,” Collins said.

While next year’s operational budget numbers have not been provided by the state or the county, Collins said it could be smaller.

“Based on preliminary numbers and information coming from different sources, it’s shaping up to be a very tough budget year,” Collins said.

The operational budget for the 2008-2009 school year is $23.6 million and in 2007-2008, it was almost $23.1 million.

Collins said preliminary numbers of what the state’s contribution to local school divisions will be are due to be released Dec. 19. With less money projected to be provided from the state, that would put an added pressure on local governments to pick up the shortfall, he said.

“The difficulty remains in providing the same high quality education,” Collins said.

After the public session on Thursday, the Nelson County School Board will hold a budget work session Dec. 11.