Supervisor: Why does school budget increase while students decrease?

At least one member of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors wonders why the School Board needs more money if it has fewer and fewer students enrolled.

“I don’t understand how the budget increases every year, even though the student count goes down every year,” said Supervisor Betsy Mapp during a meeting Tuesday night.

Eddie Lawrence, Northampton’s school superintendent, likened it to the county’s own population decline and budget increases.

“Costs continue to go up,” said Lawrence, adding, “it’s not unlike county government. The county population has been going down.”

“The cost of doing business is not going down,” he said. “Things change, and they don’t change for the cheaper.”

The School Board has asked supervisors for $159,000 in new local funding for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The school system’s proposed $24.7 million spending plan includes a 5 percent raise for staffers and an additional $40 per month contribution to health insurance.

The proposed local contribution to schools is just over $9 million for the next fiscal year.

Northampton’s school enrollment in September is projected at 1,350 students, down more than 600 students from 2005 and down roughly half from a generation ago.

The school system will receive a one-time state increase of $362,000 to make teacher salaries more competitive with nearby school systems. Lawrence said he hoped it would be an annual initiative funded by the state.

The school system arrived at its draft budget by eliminating a number of initiatives, including textbook and technology upgrades, and digital marquee signs for the schools.

Dixon Leatherbury, chairman of the board of supervisors, commended Lawrence and the school system, saying their job during the pandemic was “fantastic.”