The board was informed of the loss of the current quarterly payment from the state’s ADM education lottery fund, amounting to approximately $350,000, and cautioned the next quarter’s payment, due in May, is not a given.
“If revenues continue to run short, as we predict they will, we’ll lose even more,” Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. George Norris told the board.
He added the system has already lost more than $660,000 between a reversion of $312,000 from the general public school fund, and the latest move.
“That means, that if we don’t get this payment in May, it will be over a $1 million hit we’re taking,” he said.
Norris said the school system has the means to make the next few payments on its bond schedule, but the system is counting on money from the lottery’s ADM fund to make these payments down the road.
“(RCS Chief Financial Officer Pam Satterfield) has spoken with Ken Phelps of (the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and School Planning), and he has said that any run on these balances beyond normal withdraws may cause the state to freeze the funds,” Norris continued. “Richmond County Schools planned to use the ADM funds for bond projects where our actual cost exceeded budgeted amounts, but we will not be asking for these funds.”
Norris explained the school system will use money from a different lottery fund than the ADM fund to pay $493,000 in interest this year. He added the schools paid just over $500,000 in interest last year, so this could be enough to make the year.
Richmond County Board of Education member Tom McInnis called for the school system to submit a letter to state delegates concerning the loss of lottery money by local schools, as it is reverted to the state’s general budget.
“We’re up there in Raleigh beating our chest about education, and an educational lottery, and now it’s becoming a general budget lottery,” McInnis said.
Chairman Bruce Stanback voiced his agreement with McInnis’s proposal.
Satterfield presented two budget amendments to the board.
The first decreased funding for instructional services more than $6,000 to offset the reversion by the state in the area of textbooks.
The second increased instructional services by more than $76,000 with additional money added for the pre-kindergarden More at Four Program. This additional funding means 14 more children can be added to More at Four.
In other business:
n RCS Associate Superintendent Dr. Robert Beck told the board 18 contractors have requested plans for the Chalk Road Elementary project, and in the coming weeks the system will continue the process and receive bids.
n Norris announced a $53,000 contribution from the Richmond Community Foundation to pay for smartboard technology and laptop computers at the Ninth Grade Academy.
n Norris presented the board with the Richmond County’s dropout rates from the previous school year. The data showed dropouts decreased by about a third in the county during the year.
n The board was informed it will need to select two people to appoint to the steering committee of the GoldenLEAF Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative.
The steering committee will determine what projects will be officially presented for funding to the GoldenLEAF Foundation.
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