As the Mathews County School System begins the process of preparing its 2013-2014 budget, the board received a bit of good news about this year’s finances, as well as some concern over the possible loss of federal funding next year as a result of sequestration.

With enrollment about 34 students above earlier projections, Superintendent of Schools David J. Holleran told school board members at their meeting Tuesday night that the division stands to receive additional state revenue.

The 2012-2013 budget was based on an Average Daily Membership of 1,135 students. The division recently submitted its fall attendance report to the state, which indicates an ADM of 1,169 students, Holleran said.

Holleran said that he will recommend that the additional money be used to shore up the division’s textbook fund. In recent years, the amount of money given by the state for new textbooks has been slashed from about $75,000 a year to $20,000, much of which is being used only to replace damaged copies; not enough for a new textbook adoption.

As a result, the division finds itself behind schedule for adopting new textbooks. With this additional money, the division hopes to adopt new math textbooks for grades K-12, English at the elementary school level, and end-of-course science books.

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