Pickett County Director of Schools Diane Elder said she is comfortable with the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Elder said the budget features raises for teachers to take another step in reaching the state-mandated $50,000 by the end of next year. Elder said non-teachers will also get a raise. Elder said the raises could help the school system attract teachers.
“I think it will make Pickett County a little more competitive,” Elder said. “Can we compete with a lot of the bigger systems? No, but we know that, but as of right now, all of our positions are filled but one.”
Elder said the budget includes setting aside $700,000 for the renovation of the Pickett County High School Bathrooms. Elder said putting the budget together was surprisingly an easy process.
“Once we get our numbers and our penny rate, that’s something that my finance director and I, she plays a major role in that, and we just put the numbers to it and pray that it works out.”
Elder said there is a growing concern about the school system’s future budgets. Elder said enrollment in Pickett County continues to drop.
“It has been for the last several years that we are seeing more and more students go homeschool, so we expect to see that too,” Elder said. “Yes, it is very concerning because every time you lose a student, you lose a large portion of your funding.”
The Pickett County School Board has already approved the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
