By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last Tuesday to transfer $600,000 from the School Self Health Fund to the School Operating Fund and to appropriate a supplemental $600,000 to the School Operating Fund.
The action comes following a letter that Dr. Lisa Chen, the superintendent of Botetourt County Public Schools, sent to Gary Larrowe, the county administrator, on September 4 requesting a transfer of school monies and supplemental appropriation.
Chen’s request came after a review of the current level of healthcare activity. As a result of the review, $600,000 in cost savings was identified that could be reallocated to support several pending priories and initiatives that the school division has.
In her request, Chen noted that an estimated $423,000 will go towards the repair of the James River High School track, which currently has large holes. The request says that the track has “exceeded its normal life cycle by 11 years.” Repair of the track will include the reinstallation of the drainage system, which no longer works. The system will ensure that the first three lanes will not be under water during rain events.
The request noted that $56,000 will go towards the acquisition of additional carts and Chromebooks for students at Central Academy Middle School and Read Mountain Middle School. The Chromebooks allow students the ability to practice Demos calculators, which will be needed for upcoming SOL math tests.
The division’s staff reimbursement program, which will receive $40,000, is said to help ensure that current teachers continue their professional development. Chen’s request said that the program helps maintain a pipeline of staff in difficult to hire areas.
Other areas that the request said funds could go towards include: increasing the number of teachers who are dually certified to teach college courses, professional development for technology programs, and additional priority items and pieces of equipment.
The request also noted that the division was required to reallocate some of its funding because of an increase of students in certain programs and schools, which triggered the hiring of four unbudgeted positions in order to maintain kindergarten through third grade class size reduction.
The administrator’s comments that were included in the meeting package described the action that was taken as “an example of a successful win-win collaboration between the county and School Board and the county and school administrations.”
