By Matt Pklkky Kappuhaimuck News Stall'Writer This is the

By Matt Pklkky

Kappuhaimuck News Stall'Writer

This is the second in a twopart senes examining education funding m Huppahannock.

Rappahannock County Superintendent Dr. Robert Chappell hatt had some tough decisions to make.

Faced with dropping enrollment — projections call tor 10 percent fewer students next year than in 2006 — Chappell last month bucked a long trend of swelling education spending and proposed a budget for 2006-2000 that is about $500 less than the budget for the current school year.

The symbolic reduction came amid cries from the public and the county board of supervisors to cut costs considering the decline in enrollment. And it appears the budget might have been a good degree larger, but Chappell has promised ah as vet undisclosed cost savings totaling $415,000. He is scheduled to itemize those savings on. Monday.

Even with fewer studeuts in the schools, Chappell must answer demands to beef up education funding Top among them, according to Chappell and members of the school board, is the need to keep teacher salaries and benefits competitive with other school divisions.

But the balance of reducing costs while retaining teachers and providing students with quality education is one that Chappell has said he cun manage.

Maybe as evidence of that,' in his reduced budget proposal he wrote in a 5.5 percent pay raise for school employees. He noted, though, that the cost of living increased bv 4.1 percent in 2007

"I'm optimistic that things will work out so that we can give our employees a cost of living increase,”.Chappell said in a phone interview. "And that’s what it is this year, it amounts to a cost of living increase"

He said other superintendents in Virginia have proposed pay raises of more than 7 percent. which he called "unrea sonabie~

Chappell and members of the school board have typically prioritized teacher salary and benefits when putting togeth