School Board Passes $246M Budget

Richland One's board of school commissioners passed a $246 million budget at a meeting Tuesday evening.

The 2011-2012 school year budget includes a 2.5 percent step increase in pay for teachers. Last year teachers didn't receive any pay increase, said Ed Carlon, director of budget services for Richland One. 

Teachers will also receive $250 from the state to buy supplies for their classrooms. The district will provide an additional $175 for each teacher, Carlon said. 

The district could have used the state money toward teacher salaries instead, which would have added up to about $500,000, Carlon said. But Carlon asked the school board Tuesday to pass a proviso to use the state funds for supplies. The money wasn't needed to cover salaries, he said. 

The state provided a base student cost of $1,880 for the 2011-12 school year. That's the amount of money per student that the state provides for the district. The district budgeted for a base student cost of $1,830, to guard against mid-year reductions from the state, Carlon said. 

Last year's base student cost was only $1,630, Carlon said. Although this year's number is higher, the state calculates that funding should reach $2,720 per student.