Editor

YADKINVILLE — Yadkin commissioners are paring down a proposed $7.9 million allocation to the local system, saying they have to find a way to cut $2 million from a proposed $37.8 county budget.

"If we don't fund you, it's not because we don't agree with what you're doing," Commissioner Chairwoman Kim Phillips told school board members last week.

County Manager Eric Williams has recommended a roughly 13 percent increase over the current funding level of $7 million. A total of $7 million of that goes toward current expenses and $900,000 for capital projects.

The school board's proposed budget does not contain any funding for new teachers. Most of the local money, said School Board Chairwoman Karin Mendenhall, goes toward maintenance of more than 1 million square feet at 14 different locations.

Schools Superintendent Jim Benfield said that he hasn't recommended any layoffs, although he has suggested shorter work weeks for some employees. The school system has about 1,000 employees, Mendenhall said.

"We have notified some employees that we will cut back hours," Benfield said. "We haven't laid off anyone. We did really try to contain this budget and not try to cut in certain places . . . We should make a decision based on educational value, not dollar value."

Benfield said that the capital project budget includes money for an expansion of the Yadkin Success Academy, replacing gymnasium floors at the two high schools and additional money for information technology.

The county is also financing the construction of two new $27 middle schools at Forbush and Starmount High School. Despite some architectural and environmental delays, Benfield said that he expects the two middle schools to be completed in time for the fall 2009 calendar year.