Staff Writer

Although it won’t have final approval by the Troy Board of Education, the system will go ahead and submit a budget to the state.

Monday night, the board held the second hearing on the budget, but won’t approve it until the Aug. 21 meeting.

Budgets have to be submitted to the State Department of Education for approval by Aug. 15.

Jones said the budget will be submitted with an explanation the local board will approve it at the next meeting.

The $13.1 million budget has undergone some "slight changes" since the first budget hearing on July 27, said Superintendent Hank Jones.

He said those changes are because the system has been informed of some more money coming in from the state.

The budget shows a shortfall of more than $30,000, which is less than the $40,000 shortfall for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

Of the $700,000 the city school system received from the Troy City Council, nearly $500,000 of that is used to reduce the debt, Jones said. In the upcoming fiscal year, $584, 000 of those funds will be applied to reducing the bond issue.