By Beth Cassidy
Enterprise Record

Just as the school year ends, students and teachers are about to find out if the 2011-12 school year will be five days longer.
The recommendation, included in the state’s budget, would take away five teacher workdays and add them to the instructional day calendar, putting seat time at 185 days instead of 180.
Deborah Smink, finance officer for Davie County Schools, presented features of the proposed state budget at the school board meeting last week. She said she is confused how the state proposes to put students in seats five additional days, but is cutting funding for buses needed to transport those students back and forth on the 180 days they are already in school.
Other features of the proposed budget are no raises for any staff, the loss of one and one-half assistant principal positions, decrease in administrator salaries, decreases in instructional supply and textbook funds, no technology funding, the continued elimination of funding for staff development and literacy coaches, and an increase in LEA discretionary funding of $525,400, taking the amount the system has to give back to the state from $1.3 million to $1.9 million.
The system has also seen lottery …