May 23, 2002 By Steve Ostrosky 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – It could be another two weeks before the Central Greene School District has a tentative budget for the 2002-2003 school year, as district officials await possible increases in the state education budget by the General Assembly. Business manager Walter Stout said he would like more concrete information about the amount of funding the district will receive from the state before presenting a tentative spending plan to the board. The preliminary budget must be approved sometime during the first week of June.

“I hope by then the Legislature will be more definite in the amount of increase we can expect,” he said. “The 1-percent increase that has been proposed has already been included in the budget and amounts to about $60,000, which is not a whole lot.”

Stout said he has heard that increases above the 1 percent announced by Gov. Mark Schweiker earlier this year are anticipated. He said the General Assembly is scheduled to return to session at the beginning of June, when it will discuss education funding.

“I don’t want to speculate what the budget will be until we know what our revenue is, but $60,000 in a $21 million budget doesn’t help much,” he said.

A special meeting will be called the first week of June to adopt the plan, Stout said, and budget workshops may be held along with the regular monthly work session and legislative meeting.

The final budget for the upcoming school year must be approved by the end of June, and the tentative budget must be available for public review for 20 days before the board can adopt a final spending plan.

While the district’s budget is still being compiled, directors voted against approving the tentative 2002-2003 budget for the Greene County Vocational-Technical School, which shows an increase in Central Greene’s share by about $30,000 to a projected $594,369.90. Director Joe Ayersman said he asked for a detailed copy of the vo-tech budget but has yet to receive it.

“I vote no until I see the budget,” Ayersman said.

Directors Andrew Corfont, Twyla Haines and board President George Scott joined him in opposition.

Directors renewed an agreement with food service provider Nutrition Inc. to manage the district’s food service operations for the 2002-2003 school year, at a cost of $1.16 per meal. The agreement shows an increase only in six a la carte items, according to Stout, and the total amount of the contract is $33,610.

The board also approved a proposal from Milinovich and Company to perform the district’s required Single Audit Act audit for the 2001-2002 school year, at a cost of $5,955.

The board will hold all work sessions and meetings at 6:30 p.m. from May through October, which is a change from its previously scheduled 7:30 p.m. start time. All meetings for the rest of the year will begin at 6:30 p.m.