MONROE -- Cuts to the school budget will slice $153.5 million off the county’s school building plans.

Two schools, slated to open in 2014, were removed from the school’s five-year plan Tuesday, along with plans for a classroom wing at Sun Valley High School.

“When we were in a period of high growth, we articulated the needs for new schools, renovations and additions very strongly and clearly,” Superintendent Ed Davis said. “Now that we are not in this high growth mode, ... we need to continue to be good stewards of our county’s tax dollars, and we must articulate just as strongly our needs as they are reflective of where we are now.”

Of 53 public schools, most are under capacity. Fourteen are between 95 and 110 percent at capacity. Three — New Town and New Salem elementary schools and Porter Ridge Middle — are more than 110 percent at capacity.

There are 986 new students this year for a total population of 39,366 as of the 20th day of school.

The middle and high schools removed from the capital improvement plan would have provided relief to Porter Ridge middle and high.

“Just because we’re eliminating it now doesn’t mean it needs to be eliminated forever,” school board member David Scholl said.

Considering the county’s “financial crunch” and slowed growth — partially due to the economy, Scholl said, tabling school construction is a wise decision. The projects may return to the plan once growth picks up again, he said.

With a cap on Porter Ridge, any new students who would have gone there attend Piedmont Middle and High instead. Porter Ridge schools lost 183 students this year; Piedmont gained 194.

Through reassignment, Sun Valley High lost nearly 100 students of its own, putting the school at 90 percent capacity, down from 96 percent last year.

Three new schools opened last fall, which also relieved overcrowding.

As the population boom winds down, Davis said, so does the need for mobile units, saving UCPS thousands of dollars. The only cost to UCPS will be moving them from one location to another.

DVRs and GPS

The savings may also free up money for the transportation department.

Denise Patterson, assistant superintendent for auxiliary services, requested more DVRs and GPS units for school vehicles. UCPS has 150 DVRs and 320 buses, she said, and buses that don’t have DVRs have VCRs to record bus activity.

DVRs provide clearer pictures, more angles and longer recording times and can be viewed on the computer, Patterson said. The department wants 50 more for a total of $87,500.

It also asked for three service trucks with a price tag of $63,955, and six yellow buses, one activity bus and a specialist vehicle.

After a free pilot program with 10 GPS units, Patterson requested more than 400 more at $560,000. They would go on all buses, service trucks and spare buses. GPS units tell transportation officials where a bus is, how fast it is going and how long the route takes — all useful when calculating drivers’ pay and giving parents an estimated arrival time, Patterson said.

Still, the cuts exceed the requests.

“It actually feels good to be going to the county for the first time to say that our capital decreases far outweigh our capital budget request increases,” Davis said.

At the same time, board member Carolyn Lowder said it’s the board’s responsibility to relay school needs to county commissioners. If commissioners don’t know about them, they won’t fund them, she said.

“On one hand, we are charged as a school board to present needs to continue improving education,” board member John Collins said.

The board is also accountable to taxpayers who fund those needs, he said, and must look at what is “realistic and affordable.”

SIDEBAR

The UCPS Facilities Committee also cut costs.

A yearlong study that identified $280 million in needs was chopped to $110 million over six years. The comprehensive plan considers American Disabilities Act compliance, structural safety, operating efficiency and equity among schools.

The plan must be “fluid” and “flexible,” Mike Webb, assistant superintendent for building services, said.

“There are many projects that did not make the plan and are still out on the shelf,” he said, “but we feel good about the plan, especially for years one, two and three. Years four, five and six are more fluid because of the difficulty in future cost projections and priority or emergency needs.”

Board member Kimberly Morrison-Hansley said she is concerned about the safety of some older school buildings, and renovations can go only so far.

“How long do we expect some things to last structurally?” she asked Tuesday. “They’ve served us well, but sooner or later, we’re going to have to look at replacing these schools.”

“We do not have a building I would classify as unsafe,” Webb said.

Schools “don’t have a shelf life,” board chairman Dean Arp said, and can be used as long as they are safe.