After verifying revenue figures Thursday, Cherokee County interim superintendent Kim Bagwell said she does not anticipate any changes in the $56.1 million budget approved by the school board last week.

This year’s school budget is $6.1 million less than the 2009 budget due to spending cuts made by the district to address a $3.3 million budget deficit.

The budget is based on revenue of $56,189,868 for the 2010-2011 school year. Budget expenses are $55,795,338, resulting in a projected surplus of $394,530.

“We hope this gives us a little extra cushion in the event we receive any state budget cuts this school year,” Bagwell said.

The district will convert year-round schools back to a traditional calendar, use teacher supply funding for salaries, limit employee travel to required meetings and cancel $179,362 in security company contracts in secondary schools.

Cherokee County is among many school districts statewide where teachers and school administrators will see their salaries cut because of furloughs.

County teachers will be furloughed for five days while school administrators will be given 10 days unpaid leave. The furloughs are expected to save $1.2 million this year.

All salary schedules were frozen for this school year.

Pay raises were only given in cases where a school employee earned a higher degree or was promoted to a position such as a school principal with more responsibility. For example, associate superintendent Dr. Carlotta Redish received a $10,000 raise after earning her doctorate degree this spring.

At Monday’s meeting, school trustees approved the hiring of 45 teachers for the 2010-2011 school year. Fifteen teachers are new to the school district while the remaining were retired teachers brought back by school principals.

All working retired teachers will be paid on a 5-year salary this school year. The district further reduced its personnel costs by eliminating 16 administrator positions in the district office and 26 working retired positions in schools.

The school district made its personnel recommendations after reviewing the projected enrollment for the 2010- 2011 school year. While all job openings were posted, Bagwell said principals made the recommendation on which teachers were hired for their schools.

“We had a lot of hard decisions we had to make to balance the budget,” Bagwell said. “These are decisions that affect all of the employees.”