Schools look at budget options

If the cost of diesel continues to rise, Richmond County students could be attending school four days a week next school year.

Already this year, the school board siphoned a quarter-million dollars out of its reserves to offset soaring fuel costs, and Superintendent Dana Bedden imposed a moratorium on student field trips not previously scheduled while also limiting nonessential travel of board employees.

But the true "draconian" measure could come in August should prices continue to climb, he told more than 100 people gathered Tuesday night for a public forum at the Henry Brigham Senior Center.

If prices continue their upward swing, he will recommend that the board extend the school day and shorten the school week to four days.

After the forum, sponsored by board members Joe Scott and Barbara Pulliam, Dr. Bedden said such an idea is only a consideration and much planning would need to go into it should the board approve the change.

Other school systems nationally are already considering the four-day week to counter the costs of diesel fuel, and Richmond County must think outside the box to do the same, the superintendent said.

Dr. Bedden also said at the forum that the school system acts as both a business and service agency. It must make business decisions to run efficiently while reinvesting those savings into better educating the students it serves.

Part of that is considering whether Richmond County is best using its resources, namely its schools, he said. In March, an audit from MGT of America recommended closing a high school, a middle school and at least three elementary schools.

No schools are closing, Dr. Bedden stressed in hopes of quelling concerns generated by the audit's recommendation.

The school system, however, will use "right sizing," a method of determining if schools are best being used, he said.

The decision won't be one made simply to save money. The savings will be used to fund other MGT of America recommendations, such as inadequate technology, Dr. Bedden said.

In the past five to six years, the county has lost about 6,000 students, he said. With the students went state funding. At the same time, the state approved a 2.5 percent pay raise for certified employees for the coming year, Dr. Bedden said. That comes to about $3.6 million for Richmond County, yet the state passed along only $1.6 million to cover the raises.

Funding is particularly challenging because 70 percent of the money used to educate the county's children comes from people who don't live in the county, the superintendent said. Most funding comes from the state, and another portion comes from the federal government.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.