CUMBERLAND – Although Cumberland County will not be increasing its funding of the Cumberland County Public Schools in the upcoming year, teachers may still get a two percent raise if the amended budget proposed by Superintendent of Cumberland County Public Schools Dr. Amy Griffin is approved by the Cumberland School Board during their meeting this Monday night.

The school board approved a budget for the upcoming year that included a request for an 8.6 percent increase in County funding, equaling $337,421.89 beyond the $3.9 million received the previous year.

During the April Board of Supervisors meeting that request was denied when supervisors approved a budget with no increased school funding.

Now, it's back to the drawing board and the school board will have to adjust their budget to make up for the $337,000 shortfall.

The superintendent's proposed amendments to the 2013-2014 budget still leave a new reading specialist position and teacher raises on the table. Step increases, however, are out.

“We wanted to make sure that we definitely could include the reading specialist, because we do really need that,” Dr. Griffin told The Herald.

The position is slated to cost $62,200, according to the recommended amendments.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Chip Jones reported that two-thirds of the cost for the reading specialist will be provided by the State. The elementary school recently applied for a waiver as a first step towards obtaining that funding. (See article in the April 24 edition of The Herald.) The remaining third will have to be matched by the school.

Dr. Griffin pointed out that based on student reading scores it was determined by the State that the school needed a reading specialist, “and we agree with that.”

Newly passed legislation provides partial state funding of the reading specialist, if less than 75 percent of third graders passed the SOL reading test the previous academic year.

State funding also makes up a large chunk of the two percent raises for teachers, which are preserved in the recommended budget amendments.

“I really did not want to lose out on the state funding for the two percent increase,” Dr. Griffin explained.

The two percent raise for all full-time employees will cost $172,000, according to the new proposed amendments. According to Jones, over half of that amount will come from the State. The General Assembly passed legislation to pay a portion of the amount needed for a two percent increase for Standards of Quality funded positions.

If the school did not match that funding with $22,447 in local money, then nearly $100,000 from the State would have been lost. If the amendments are approved, the school will also be paying an additional $52,000 to pay for raises for the remaining full-time school employees, according to Jones.

Dr. Griffin explained her rationale. “Teachers have worked hard, they've taken on an…increased work load, and I wanted to make sure we're able to compensate, especially with the State saying, '…we're going to pay our part,'” she said.

Dr. Griffin also explained that she is recommending the two percent raise over the step increase because “we would not have gotten state funds for that…and there's only so many that get steps, while everyone gets the two percent.”

Step increases, which are awarded to eligible employees based on years of service, had been calculated to cost over $156,000. If the school board approves the recommendation and does not award those increases, this will be the second year in a row that eligible employees have not received a pay increase based on years of service, according to Jones.

In addition to the elimination of the step increases previously approved by the school board, the proposed amended budget includes cuts of over $151,000 in the school's operating budget, beyond the original budget's cuts, to make up for the County's level funding.

The biggest cut to the previously approved budget is through the elimination of two teaching positions, saving the division over $130,000.

Jones told The Herald that only the positions, not individuals, were being cut. “We're eliminating, through attrition, two teaching positions,” he summarized.

Dr. Griffin confirmed that staff has been restructured to accommodate the cuts. A current elementary school teacher has been hired to fill the reading specialist position. Two middle school teachers already working for the school are being moved to fill open positions, such as the new reading specialist old position.

Although the two teaching positions in the middle school will not be filled, Dr. Griffin says that students should not experience an increase in class size. Right now, one middle school grade has a smaller amount of students than normal, which requires fewer teachers, she reported.

But, she added, that grade is an anomaly. “Eventually, I predict…we'll have to increase, at some point. But, for next year, we can get by with two less middle school teachers,” she explained.

Besides eliminating funding for the two teaching positions, the superintendent is recommending other cuts.

The school cut $110,000 in technology and maintenance funding when the current 2013-2014 budget was approved. The administration is recommending an additional $5,000 in cuts in those two areas, as well as a $17,000 cut in unemployment insurance.

Jones explained that the cut to unemployment insurance was made after looking at the amount the school had paid for unemployment claims in the past and reducing the line-item based on those past, actual amounts.

The recommendations also still include $63,200 more for increases in the cost of health insurance contributions.

Dr. Griffin told the board of supervisors during a joint work session that more employees went on the health plan last year, resulting in the increased expense in health insurance.

The amended budget includes $17,000 more in State funding than what had been projected in the previously approved budget. Jones stated the increase was based on additional funds provided by the General Assembly.

Gains from the increase in State funding are more than offset, however, by cuts in federal funding. As already seen in the original budget approved by the board, the school general fund will see a decrease of 6.3 percent in federal funding, while food services will see a decrease of over 11 percent, equaling over $177,000 in cuts to federal funding.

The majority of that decrease in federal funding, $110,000, is due to the end of a grant for 21st Century at the middle school, Dr. Griffin told the board of supervisors earlier this year.

The school board is scheduled to review and vote on the amended budget during their regular meeting on Monday, May 13.