HAMLET — Richmond County Schools finalized its 2015-16 budget with the county Board of Education’s unanimous approval during its regularly scheduled monthly meeting Tuesday.
As projected, the school system is in line to receive nearly $44.4 million in state funding and $6.8 million in federal grants. State lawmakers approved North Carolina’s 2015-16 budget, which includes allocations to the state’s public schools, on Sept. 18.
Funds appropriated for operations of the administrative unit in the local current expense fund total $10,562,877. The line item under this section receiving the biggest slice of the pie is “system-wide support services,” coming in at $7,080,434. “Instructional programs” are allocated $3,397,021, followed by “ancillary services” at $70, 422 and “non-programmed charges” bringing up the rear with $15,000.
Section two of the budget estimates amounts of money to be available to the same fund and their sources. The state is expected to provide $53,000 and the federal government will pitch in $90,000. Local funds in the amount of $7,915,000 and a fund balance appropriated for $2,504,877 added to first two figures come to exactly $10,562,877 — making the total local current expense fund appropriated and the total local current expense fund revenue a perfect match.
In the “other” local current expense fund, $3,147,231.75 matched their counterpart estimated revenues exactly as well.
The state public school fund appropriation of $44,389,744 and was equal to the amount contributed by the state.
Total federal grant funds appropriated amounted to $6,821,491.84 — exactly the amount received from federal grants service fund reserves.
Similarly, the school food service appropriation and fund revenues were identical at $5,156,634.
Finally the total capital outlay fund appropriation of $2,405,051 matched the estimated revenues from state, local, and bond funds.
Superintendent Dr. Cindy Goodman may transfer amounts between functions and objects expenditures within a fund without limitations and without a report to the Board of Education, but she may not transfer any amounts between funds or purpose codes nor from any contingency appropriation within a fund without prior approval from the Board of Education.
Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @melonieflomer.
