ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke City Public Schools will be cutting its budget even more ahead of the next school year as the school board met Tuesday night to discuss the budget.
School board members discussed cuts needed to close a $14 million shortfall. This comes as the Roanoke City Council approved its budget Monday night.
The School district is cutting back activity buses in the fall, but will keep them running during the spring for sports and tutoring ahead of finals. The district is also shrinking its PLATO Program for gifted students, moving down from two sites with nine classrooms across three grades to one site with four classrooms across two grades.
“We’re contracting on things we had put into our budget because we felt they made a difference for our students,” Frany Apel, Roanoke City School Board Chair Member, said.
The school board is expected to meet again on May 26 to discuss overcrowding in schools.