At their March 26 meeting, The Roanoke County School Board approved a general fund budget for the 2020-2021 school year of $156,531,289.
This represents a 3.3% increase from the previous year’s budget.
Highlights of this budget currently include a one-step raise for all contracted staff and an additional half-percent raise beyond the one-step increase for teachers.
The budget also includes making nurses full-time employees with benefits (nurses currently are part-time employees), the creation of a new alternative educational program for secondary students and expanded contracts for bus drivers and bus aides.
“We may be losing significant revenues,” cautions Don Butzer, chairman of the Roanoke County School Board. “The pandemic is having a catastrophic effect on the economy, so we may have to go back and make changes to this budget,” Butzer added.
By Virginia code, school boards must adopt a budget by April 1 to be presented to the Board of Supervisors. The adopted budget will be sent to the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for approval.
