INSIDE Rescued horse wins at Deep Run > page 3
Volume 55, Number 52 • December 31, 2009
Schools consider more budget cuts By Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
Photo by Ken Odor
GFSFC worker Cheryl Hardman with some of the food being distributed last week by the Food Pantry.
Food Pantry helps at holidays The friends he came to see were the 10 or so staff and volunteers from the Food Pantry run Unemployed truck driver Alton by Goochland Family Services & Anderson stopped by to see some Free Clinic who showed up last old friends last week a couple days Wednesday morning for the weekly before Christmas. food distribution. By Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
INDEX
News Calendar Classifieds Letters Education
2 Opinion 8 Sports 9 - 11 TV Listings 4 3
4 5 6-8
Because of the bad weather and the holidays, GFSFC changed the date from the normal distribution day, Thursday. Virginia Community Bank, which is right next door to the Family Services location at see Pantry > page 2
SPORTS Bulldogs split results at St. Christopher’s. > page 5
Goochland School Board members left last week’s workshop meeting with a lot to think about, after Superintendent Linda Underwood urged them to consider more budget cuts to bring reductions closer to the county’s request. In its previous efforts, the school board had identified potential cuts that resulted in about a $750,000 reduction, far below the $2.9 million cut requested by the county administration. Additional changes since the December 15 meeting brought the cuts to about $946,000, but Underwood asked board members to consider going further. “We’re still $2 million dollars short,” said Underwood toward the end of the meeting, after a presentation by schools Director of Finance Lynne Venter on the state contributions to Goochland schools proposed by out going Gov. Tim Kaine. Those proposals contained some surprises, the biggest of which was the elimination of $180,000 for technology that
T H E
File Photo
School Superintendent Linda Underwood asked board members to consider making additional budget cuts.
the school system had counted on. Underwood suggested a more reasonable figure to shoot for would be something in the neighborhood of a $1.5 million reduction. “If we look at a $1.5 million reduction instead of the $2.9 million we’re still $553,000 short,” said Underwood. “I have to recommend to you that we go back into the kinds of things we have talked about that are possibilities for reductions,” said Underwood. She suggested previously discussed cuts in classroom see Budget> page 3
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west SERVING EASTERN GOOCHLAND AND WESTERN HENRICO
Digital photography class at Twin Hickory Library