Stony Point Eagle A Message from Brian Wheeler, At-Large School Board Member

Mon Jan 28 13:12:36 EST 2008

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 This message is not an official communication of the Albemarle County School Board. It is a private, e-mail-only newsletter written by Brian Wheeler, At-Large Member of the Albemarle County School Board. 
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-     [Want to share some public comments on this message?  See the weblog version here: http://schoolmatters.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/funding_cuts.html ]

        As with all my posts... This important message on the school budget represents my views as an individual School Board member.

      Last year, the “January surprise” of the budget process was an ever dropping tax rate target that had the Albemarle County School Board constantly cutting and adjusting the budget for 2007-08.  The School Board ultimately passed a balanced budget (it has to by law), but a number of major initiatives went underfunded or unfunded.

      This year’s “January surprise” is the rapidly changing state and local revenue picture.  Once again, the funding request prepared by Superintendent Pam Moran for the School Board’s consideration is having fundamental financial assumptions shaken by matters outside the School Board’s control. 

      Earlier this week, the School Board was facing a $832,637 funding gap for next year.  The School Board was told Tuesday to expect state revenues to drop by $250,000.  Not a huge amount.  I can deal with that in a $153 million budget.  We were also told that our competitive market for employee salaries was now forecasting smaller raises.  So compensation targets for classified employees were ratcheted back trimming that gap by $332,420.  Teacher salaries remained at the targeted 4% increase.  Still some more work to do, but certainly not impossible to balance the budget.

      Yesterday however, I learned that local Albemarle County revenues for next year are now expected to drop by $2.16 million from the projection used by Dr. Moran in her December 2007 funding request to the School Board.

      Let’s do the math.

      In 2007-08, the schools were supposed to receive a transfer from local government of $98.4 million for operations (i.e. not debt service, capital, or self-sustaining).  That amount is 44.9% of the total County general fund expenditures of which 62% is funded by real estate property taxes.  (Note: This is from the perspective of the general fund for Albemarle and that there are other sources of local revenue) 

      This year, we had been projecting since October a $100.67 million transfer from local government (assumes the real estate property tax rate would remain at $0.68).  That would have resulted in an additional $2.2 million from local government, or a 2.2% increase for the schools.  The lowest change in memory according to our staff.

      Based on revised data from yesterday, that number is now projected to be $73,311 (0.074%) of TOTAL additional revenues from local government to the schools.  Yes, I have those commas and decimals in the right place.  Local government may look at reducing capital investments in community infrastructure to help plug the hole. 

      But wait, there is more.  With real estate tax bills in the mail this week and dropping local property values, the County also has to face shortfalls in the CURRENT budget.  We had expected that and Dr. Moran had previously prepared the schools to accommodate a $2 million hit.  Yesterday local government informed the schools that the figure has reached the $3 million mark.  So the $98.4 million that we should have received from local government this school year is now $95.4 million.

      Our community has some serious work to do.  My assessment of Dr. Moran’s funding request, as one School Board member, was that it ALREADY very lean and strategically focused.  Overall the projected growth of the budget was only 3.37%.  Yet, she figured out how to fund a $6.2 million initiative to ensure competitive compensation.  Given the budget was only growing by $5 million, she accomplished that by cutting positions and programs in other parts of the division.  An additional $73,311 from local government doesn’t go very far on a $6.2 million initiative. 

      Further, in late 2007 the School Board hired the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute (CEPI) at VCU to conduct a 5 month proactive study of the efficiency and effectiveness of our school operations.  Implementing the recommendations in this study will be an essential part of funding the future, but only so many adjustments can be made in the first year, and as I said previously, many cuts were already in the budget and other initiatives were already left unfunded or deferred to year two.

      Unless the revenue picture changes for the better, the School Board will soon be in the process of planning reduction strategies with the Superintendent.  Those specifics will not be clear before the public hearing next week, but it is essential we hear from YOU regarding your priorities for our public schools.  What are you willing to do without?  What investments are you willing to make to accomplish the educational goals of this community?

      The public hearing is being held at Monticello High School’s new auditorium this Tuesday, January 29, 2008 starting at 6:30 PM.  The sign-up sheet for speakers will be available starting at 4:30 PM.

      Brian Wheeler

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      Brian Wheeler
 bwheeler at albemarlematters.com
 http://www.wheeleronboard.com

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 Brian Wheeler, At-Large Member & Chairman
 Albemarle County School Board
 89 Langford Place
 Charlottesville, VA 22903
 bwheeler at k12albemarle.org
 tel: 434-984-2233
 www.wheeleronboard.com
 Click here to visit my blog and comment on the latest school news
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