Pupils at Grafton Village Elementary walk to their buses. The current Stafford County budget means schools face overcrowding and may not afford more than the basics. RHONDA VANOVER/THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Stafford County budget/wasteful spending
Date published: 5/12/2008
STAFFORD County has the 11th highest per capita income in the nation and is one of Forbes "best places to get ahead." Yet somehow county officials can't figure out how to perform budgetary liposuction to trim wasteful spending without cutting public safety (fire, EMS, 911, and the sheriff), schools, and roads to the bare bones.
Despite being the seventh richest state, Virginia ranks 32nd in per-pupil expenditure for education. According to the Virginia Department of Education, Stafford's 2007 local contribution to education was 28 percent below state average. Over the last three years the share of the county budget committed to schools has fallen 15 percent below the somewhat predictable and respectable levels of the previous eight years. Fiscal conservative David Beiler, a former Falmouth district supervisor, noted that from 2001 to the present, in per capita "real" dollars (adjusted for growth and inflation), support for the schools has fallen 10.8 percent, while support for other county programs has risen 32.5 percent.
The school budget is fixed at 85 percent salaries and benefits, and reductions ultimately affect the quality of our children's education. The cumulative impact is that teachers face more than 1,100 overcrowded classrooms each day. The number of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress has fallen from 92 percent (23/25) in 2005 to less than 50 percent (14/29) in 2007.
The anemic budget increase will barely cover the increased costs for the 535,000 gallons of diesel fuel for the buses. Delaying cyclical replacement of 5-year-old computers or 12-year-old buses increases this year's maintenance costs and next year's replacement budget.
The proposed 2009 school board budget showed considerable restraint with 57 percent of the more than 700 line items having no increase or a decrease over 2008, even before the supervisors' Draconian $15 million cut. These cuts are designed to force the supervisors' political will on the elected school board to close schools. About one-third of the students at Drew Middle School (the only middle school to make AYP last year) and Moncure Elementary School are economically disadvantaged, as is evident by their reduced meals programs.
WAKE UP REPUBLICANS!(posted by
goshngee
, May 17, 2008 10:49 am)
This is the mindset of the Spend-o-crats-- more of YOUR MONEY. They never volunteer to disproportionately give more taxes from themselves to get what they want (I'd support that), only more of everyone else's money!!
The Virginia School Board Association?(posted by
freedomfirst
, May 13, 2008 9:06 am)
Why wouldn't they support fiscal autonomy for school boards? They don't want politicians to cut school funds in favor of spending $1 Million on new plastic grass for a soccer field would they?
Chriswald - that is the point(posted by
Dana1
, May 13, 2008 8:04 am)
The tax bills are going up too fast and too much (3 times the annual average rate of inflation per year). We are spending too much. No one, including teachers can keep up with that. I support teacher raises. They could could have received them for FY'09 - the school board sacrificed their rasies to pay for extra empty seats instead. We have a money management problem - NOT a money problem.
Dana1...fortunately your federal employee husband will be getting a COLA!(posted by
Chiswald
, May 12, 2008 9:29 pm)
That will help pay for the rising Stafford County real estate taxes. Meanwhile, Stafford County teachers won't be receiving a COLA, and these teachers also have bills to pay. When was the last time your husband didn't receive a COLA?
Raise for cost of living?(posted by
Dana1
, May 12, 2008 5:03 pm)
My Stafford County real estate tax bill has averaged a 10% increase for the last 7 years. That is over (3) times the average annual rate of inflation. This increase was levied to fund schools. My husband who is federal employee, does not get a COLA large enough to keep up with that appetite!
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