Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-05-03 07:00:00.0
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Prince William County -

Prince William County School Board members are preparing to slash more than $20 million to balance their $858 million budget next week, which could lead to smaller pay raises for teachers.

Despite the cuts, teachers will receive a pay increase and the school board will have enough money to fund the initial construction planning for an 11th high school, board Chairman Milt Johns said.

"Obviously, there's going to be some additional significant cuts that will be involved," Johns said. "With almost 80 percent of our budget being in the area of salary and benefits, a significant portion of the savings will have to come in those areas."

Prince William County supervisors have cut the proposed increase in the tax rate by 4 cents since the school board adopted its budget last month, prompting the system of 72,000 students to overhaul its financial plan.

School administrators are expected to brief the board Monday on potential cuts to make up the money and will make an official presentation Wednesday night. The hottest question will be how much of a raise teachers can expect.

"I'm still hopeful we will be able to provide salary increases that would be comparable to our neighboring schools," Johns said, noting Fairfax County teachers will receive pay raises of about 4.7 percent. "I'm hopeful we would be pretty close to that."

The supervisors are expected to be able to cut the budget more easily because of reduced enrollment projections, which already have been slashed by 40 percent. The school enrollment dropped by more than 1,000 students as the county's high-profile illegal-immigration crackdown has produced a sharp drop in children from families in which English is not the primary language.

In all, the final spending plan is $38 million, or 4 percent, less than Superintendent Steven Walts' original $896.2 million budget, school spokesman Ken Blackstone said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com