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GREENSBORO — Guilford County commissioners say they aren’t looking for places to cut the school district’s budget, but they want a closer accounting of its budget.

A budget committee made up of school board members and commissioners met Tuesday for the first of several discussions about the upcoming schools budget. Commissioners said they want an in-depth look at how the school district develops its budget and how county tax money is spent.

Commissioners criticized the one-page document and time line that Guilford County Schools officials provided for the meeting. The document highlights factors that might affect the 2010-11 budget but does not go in much detail.

According to the district’s figures, it could face more than $4 million in increased funding needs from items such as a projected enrollment increase of 300 students.

“I need to know the meat of the budget. What have you done to maybe tighten the belt,” said Commissioner Kay Cashion. “This doesn’t tell me anything about the budget, just projected increases.”

The current schools budget is nearly $651 million, about 30 percent of which comes from the county. State funding makes up about 60 percent of the school district’s budget.

Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green is scheduled to present his budget proposal to the Guilford County Board of Education on April 6.

County Commissioner Steve Arnold led the push for more information. Arnold wants to meet with every school district department head to hear from them how money is being spent. He wants to know what expenses are state-mandated and which aren’t.

Arnold said the school board historically has shown up at the last minute with a budget and that’s left commissioners feeling as though they have something to hide. After Tuesday’s meeting, Arnold said he isn’t trying to pick a fight with the school board, nor is he trying to find places to cut.

“We want to know that the level of funding we’re giving is sufficient,” he said. “The purpose is an educational one to me.”

School board Vice Chairman Amos Quick said this and future budget meetings will be an opportunity to enlighten commissioners on the schools budget process and a chance to show that budget needs are rooted in educating children.

“I think they just have questions, and we’re open to helping them with that,” Quick said.

To help the commissioners, the committee will detail the school district’s current budget, even going line-by-line and possibly meeting with department heads.

One item already being discussed is the cost of paying for school resource officers. Last month, the commissioners pushed the school board to consider replacing school resource officers with private security guards. It came up again Tuesday, with the commissioners saying they wanted to see that the school district has thoroughly examined the possibility.

The committee will meet again on Feb. 10 at the school district’s central office.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing @news-record.com