By By Lisa Tindell – news editor
With a threat of proration looming, the Brewton City School Board approved the working budget for the 2008 fiscal year Monday.
Many school officials in Alabama are fearing proration - or state budget cuts - in the coming year when lawmakers return for the 2009 legislative session.
With a decrease in enrollment for the past two years, the Brewton school system has lost federal funding and could see cuts in the future, Smith said.
Smith said enrollment within the system has seen decreases in the last two years with enrollment for the current year showing a decrease as well.
Smith said the ability to put together a good budget was made possible because of many factors.
A budget of $9,482,073 will be dispersed to allow operation of the central office, elementary, middle and high schools in the system, Smith said. Expenditures for the year will bring the ending balance to just under $1.7 million. The ending balance must reflect operating costs of one month as required by state guidelines.
The approved budget will cover costs involved with just under 85 teacher units for the system to include salaries, benefits, classroom instructional support and other expenses. Expenditures for the system are expected to be more than $7 million.
Budget expenditures were broken down by center or school as follows: