Education

    Facing a $1.1 million cut from its approved budget, School Board Chairman Debbie Hoback said, in a phone interview Tuesday, that the board will use the same procedure it has used in the past when it did not get as much funding as anticipated.

    This involves looking at items that the board has already considered and deciding what it can do to get the numbers down. The board will have to cut its budget to match the funding from the county.
    “I think we will be able to get it done,” she said.

Staunton River High School’s marching band, flag waving children from Bedford Elementary School and a JROTC color guard turned out to welcome Brigadier General John Douglass (USAF Retired) when he spoke at the National D-day Memorial last week.

    Under a budget approved by the Bedford County School Board Thursday night, Bedford Primary School will be closed next year while Body Camp Elementary will remain open. School employees will also receive a 1 percent pay raise.

    After considering closing both schools, the board agreed at Thursday's special called meeting to consolidate Bedford Primary with Bedford Elementary School next year, making it a K-5 school. Sixth graders currently at the school will move over to Bedford Middle School.

If the budget for Bedford County Public Schools is adopted based on discussions during a five-hour school board work session last Thursday, neither Body Camp Elementary or Bedford Primary School would be closed next year.

    But cuts still have to be made and one school board member has yet to come to a decision on the issue while another wasn't at the meeting to voice an opinion about the proposed school closings.