For the second year in a row, the Coweta County School System may dip deep into its reserve to balance the budget.

At this week's Board of Education meeting, the board approved a motion authorizing Superintendent Peggy Connell to use $3.7 million in current reserve funds for the 2004-05 school budget. Board members Allan Payton and Brian Roy voting against measure.

Public Information Officer Dean Jackson said the funds will be used for six items:

- Additional special education teachers throughout the system ($896,000).

- Adding teaching assistant for elementary keyboarding/typing ($100,000).

- Keeping the current high school block scheduling: $2 million. Jackson said the school system had looked at modifying the current schedule, but decided to stay with block scheduling as long as they could.

- Reinstating all elementary STOP program teaching assistants ($350,000).

- Lowering first grade pupil-teacher ratios to 20:1 in at-risk (Title I) schools only ($384,000).

- Lowering second grade pupil-teacher ratios to 20:1 in at-risk (Title I) schools only ($192,000).

The $3.7 million comes from the system's reserve of $6.3 million. Last year, the board used approximately $5 million in reserves to balance the budget.

The Board of Education will make a final determination for the 2004-05 school budget in June.