[MurrayMatters] Important Budget Information

[Hashisaki]

The county budget situation is in dire condition.  Please share this  
email with your PTO's and any parents you can contact.

Your contact by email or telephone is needed to each member of the  
Board of Supervisors (BOS) within the next 4 days, because the BOS  
will decide upon a tax rate by next Monday, March 19th.

An easy way to contact them is through their group email address:
bos at albemarle.org

BOS members and telephone numbers:
Ken Boyd (Chairman)   977-9981                             David  
Wyant  823-5818
David Slutzky  989-5888                                         Sally  
Thomas  295-1819
Dennis Rooker  977-7424                                         
Lindsay Dorrier  286-9399

Our message is simple:  FULLY  FUND  EDUCATION!

These are a few of the possible scenarios if the BOS cuts the tax  
rate to $0.68, which would require the Albemarle County Public  
Schools to cut their budget:

1.  Increased class sizes.  Did you know the Virginia Board of  
Education allows up to 24 Kindergarten students in a class with 1  
teacher;  up to 30 students in grades 1,2,3;  up to 35 students in  
grades 4,5,6 ?
2.  Field trips planned for the end of the year could be canceled,  
because the current year's budget will be reduced.
3.  Capitol Improvement Program (CIP) projects will be reduced, i.e.  
expansions at Greer, Brownsville, Albemarle, and others.
4.  Reduction in teacher salaries.
5.  Reduction in funds for textbooks and electronic resources.
6.  Reduce assistant principal positions at all levels.
7.  Charge a user fee for high school extracurricular activities,  
i.e. joining the football, volleyball, cross country track teams.
8.  Did you know the Virginia Board of Education does not require  
school systems to provide transportation for students (only required  
for special education students).  What if the school system had to  
cut bus transportation for our students??

This is just a partial list of cuts the school system will consider  
in order to meet the budget the BOS provides.

Several events will occur tomorrow, Wednesday, March 14th:
11:00am  Press Conference in lobby of County Office Building in  
support of education funding
1:00pm  BOS work session on the School Board's funding request
6:00pm  BOS meeting, last chance for public comment before the BOS  
decides upon a tax rate cut, County Office Building Lane Auditorium


While this email does represent my personal point of view, I  
recognize that many of you may feel differently and disagree.  I  
would like to encourage everyone to contact the Board of  
Supervisors.  The Board of Supervisor's  decision should be made with  
the input from as many citizens of Albemarle County as possible.
Please let your voice be heard!

Thank you, Teresa Hashisaki
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