DINWIDDIE -- The Dinwiddie County School Board last night approved a $43.3 million operating budget for the next fiscal year and sent it on to the Board of Supervisors for authorization.

The vote was 4-1, with James E. Harrison Sr. casting the dissenting vote. Harrison said one of his objections to the budget dealt with the teachers' salary scale. He was concerned that some teachers would be getting bigger pay raises than others.

The operating budget represents an 11 percent increase over the current budget. The local contribution would be $12.3 million, a 5 percent increase from the current year.

The school system will receive $27 million, about 60 percent of the budget, from the state. The state is allocating additional funding in part because the school system gained 50 more students than had been expected and because the local government has a lower-than-expected ability to contribute to schools.

With this budget, school officials will reconfigure some grades this fall.

Dinwiddie Middle School will house sixthand seventh-graders. Eighthand ninth-graders will attend the current Dinwiddie High School, which will become a junior high. Students in grades 10 through 12 will attend the new high school, which is scheduled for completion in July.

Support staff are scheduled to receive a 5 percent salary increase.

Teachers would see on average a 9 percent pay increase. Starting salaries would increase from $35,175 to $39,000.

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com