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Spotsylvania supervisors and School Board members made little progress in closing a $7.6 million funding gap during a joint work session last night.
The schools' proposed fiscal year 2009 budget is 7 percent more than the current fiscal year.
County Administrator Randy Wheeler's proposed budget contains no additional funding for the school system from the current budget, which is roughly $118 million.
That leaves a $7.6 million gap in what the School Board wants and what the county government has proposed.
During the almost-two-hour meeting, they never discussed cuts. The two boards were more cordial than in past years. Instead of pointing fingers at one another, they criticized the state for putting more pressure on local governments to fund the schools.
One thing was clear in their rhetoric: This is going to be one of the most challenging budget years in more than a decade as the economy continues to slump toward a possible recession.
School Board members said they will receive $4 million less from the state than they anticipated.
That gap could grow depending on which budget the General Assembly approves this month. School Board Chairman Gil Seaux said the gap could be between $370,000 and $1.3 million more because of less state revenue.
Supervisor Emmitt Marshall said the county budget does not include any county employee raises. The School Board is proposing 4.5 percent salary increases for teachers.
"That just demonstrates how tough of times we are facing," Marshall said.
Despite these funding concerns, School Board members stressed the importance of opening Cedar Forest Elementary, John J. Wright alternative school, the Joint Fleet Maintenance Facility and starting an Autism Program.
Seaux discussed the option of delaying the opening of the alternative school, which would be about a $500,000 one-time savings.
"How do you put a dollar sign on the fact that we are denying at-risk children the opportunity [to learn]? I don't think we can."
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
"If we cut anymore, we are directly cutting the needs of the students." --Supervisor Gary Skinner"I can't quite comprehend in a year when county revenues would be increasing that not one dime of those new revenues would be coming to public education." School board member Marty Wilder"I think we need to be cognizant of that (dropping revenues) and be realistic and begin to think about pulling back until we see exactly where the economy is "Failure is not an option. We will prevail and we'll work together. We will do what we have to do." --School Board member Ray Lora"It is going to be a challenging year. My response is we will get it done because we have to, by law, get it done. While some people will be very unhappy, we will get it done. Unlike the federal government, we cannot run a deficit. Unlike the state, we cannot punt it to somebody else." --Supervisor Hap Connor |
