Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Here we go on the Budget Roller Coaster

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The School Board's operating budget process began two weeks ago when Dr. Hatrick proposed a budget for next school year to our Board. Here are some broad brush strokes for you on what has happened so far, and what comes next:
  1. The Supervisors asked the School Board to send them a budget reflecting not more than a 5% increase in local funding
  2. Dr. Hatrick proposed a budget to the School Board with the following broad outlines:
  • 5% increase in local tax funding, 4.4% increase in overall budget
  • 1% Cost of Living increase for all LCPS employees (except himself and the Board; salary changes for the Superintendent are considered by the Board each July, and the School Board can only change the next Board's salary within limits set by the state).
  • No new fees or initiatives
  • Cuts in central office positions
Because LCPS enrollment is projected to increase 5.4% for next year, this is a decrease in per-pupil spending.

The School Board has held one public hearing and one work session on the budget. During the work session, Board members asked questions of staff, most of which will be answered in writing at a later time.

Tonight there is another public hearing and worksession, and on Thursday a final work session. The School Board will, by next Tuesday, finalize its version of the budget and send it forward to the Board of Supervisors as a request.

On February 10th I will make a presentation to the Board of Supervisors about our Board's budget request. The Board of Supervisors holds its public hearings on the budget on February 24, 25 & 27. There will be a joint work session between the two Boards on March 2nd. I anticipate the the Board of Supervisors will pass its final budget by April 6th, settling on the LCPS budget in mid-to-late March.

If the Board of Supervisors decrease the LCPS funding request, the School Board will make cuts to the LCPS budget to match the amount of funding. This will happen in April and will come after we have taken more input from the public and a recommendation by the Superintendent.
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12 comments:

  1. How can Dr. Hatrick (and you) ask for any kind of raises with the way the economy is??? Wouldn't no raise = 11 million savings?

    The employees of LCPS, especially the ones at the Admin "Palace", should be glad they still have a job.
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  2. I spent two hours reading the budget this weekend. I was struck by its arrogance and insensitivity.

    Which of the following makes us think we should INCREASE the School Budget, albeit with a 5% increase in kids?
    a) Falling property values
    b) High unemployment
    c) Major job losses and salary cuts, at least in the private sector

    Increasing classroom size by sess than 1 child cannot be called a 'sacrifice' - no one will even notice!

    Dr Hatrick and the Board are COMPLETELY out of touch with reality. In the PRIVATE SECTOR, which by the way funds the Gov't School bureaucracy, when times are hard you have to make hard choices.

    Dr Hatrick and the Board created a tiered series of cuts that penalize the voiceless/friendless few, while protecting his friends and colleagues.

    As a business owner and a parent, I suggest we accept the following:
    1) We are in a serious budget crisis
    2) We ALL got it in together
    3) We should ALL sacrifice to get out of it

    When times are hard, you cut the budget.

    A 5% across-the-board budget cut (across all salary levels, staffing levels, and programs (Special Needs to AP)) is fair, simple and absorbable. It would save $34M; I suspect the State may cut more than that.

    No teacher can say a 5% cut will kill them. However, firing a few special needs assistants will result in those people being severely hurt.

    In fact, the State HIPAA program just told my wife and me that next month, we will lose a $650/month stipend for insurance we receive for our Special Needs on, Alex. Okay. Fine. Times ARE hard -- so why do teachers derserve a raise by taxing me MORE when I make less and my house is worth less?

    I will be there tonight and hope to see some 'adults' working on this process. Thank you for your time and your service.
    Best regards,
    Mike Burke
    Lowes Island
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  3. You are obviously not an educator Mike - I am so infuriated by your remarks I cannot even begin to refute your comments....I will just count to 10 and know there are people out there who are level headed in this budget crisis. Though I may not agree with many of Dr. Hatrick's decisions - I find it incomprehensible that you make such statements as: Increasing classroom size by sess than 1 child cannot be called a 'sacrifice' - no one will even notice! AND my personal favorite:
    No teacher can say a 5% cut will kill them - well that won't kill my family, but the lack of food on my table and roof over our heads will! We are willing to make sacrafices - we have been since our first day of teaching.....and that is why BOTH my husband and I chose this profession....we are certainly not in it for the money - we do it for the kids, every day....but we also would like to be able to provide for, and take care of our families. We live very modestly and are very happy - and we are getting by. Oh - and when they increase that class size by 1.....spend a day in a first grade classroom with 27 kids - alone, no help - and you tell me how much 1 child makes a difference!
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  4. Well said, Mike Burke! Let's hope the LCPS budget drops faster than the Drop Tower at Kings Dominion and taxpayers get a much needed tax cut this year.
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  5. I for one would not balk at not getting a payraise even though it would help me greatly but maybe a payraise could be justified if some programs were to be cut.. For instance, the SAMS and FLES programs- drop those entirely and save money. Cut the Futura and Spectrum programs- they really have no bearing on which kids "get into" AP classes or Jefferson or the science academy- All kids can apply and get into those programs and classes without having the gifted program- not all smart kids are invited to the so called gifted program. And they do need to take a look at the admin building and see what cuts can be made there. Do the schools really need 2 PE teachers? Could they do the job with a teacher and a teaching assistant?? Don't see why not. No one wants their jobs cut but realistic cuts should be looked at- Take out what would have the least negative impact on educating the children. With the opening of 3 new schools obviously new teachers are going to be needed. Can't change that fact. Increasing the class size- well that really just depends on the school- some schools will be greatly impacted others not so much. Take a look at the transportation budget and cut the some of those bus runs. Kids can walk!! It won't hurt them. And paying for teacher assistants to attend inservice days on teacher workdays-- really ridiculous- they should be in the school or off on those days. talk about a waste!
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  6. There is definitely waste but teachers salaries are not in that category. Many people own a home that has lost value, including my husband and I, Mike. We all have to accept that values will probably never be that inflated again. The tax rate was well below a dollar in 2006 when home prices were ridiculous. It makes sense that the rate had to increase because assessments are down. Teachers are supposed to endure paycuts until home prices are back to what they were four years ago? Yes, these are hard times, but our area has been better off than many other parts of the country. I didn't see any shortage of new iPods, cell phones, and Uggs on my students after winter break.

    Profe
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  7. Anonymous 11:21pm

    "Yes, these are hard times, but our area has been better off than many other parts of the country. I didn't see any shortage of new iPods, cell phones, and Uggs on my students after winter break."

    So teachers should be paid based on how much money the people in the county have? Please!

    How about sucking it up like everyone else is???? If you don't like what you are paid here, then please...feel free to go to any of the surrounding counties, I'm sure they are hiring....NOT!!!
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  8. I read in this weeks Loudoun Times-Mirror that the School Board just took possession of a hybrid bus (which cost them $160,000 vs. the $100,000 a normal bus costs). It gets (drumroll) 3 miles per gallon better gas mileage.

    That's a GREAT way to spend our money (reeking of sarcasm). I think the School Board really needs to make better choices of how our money is spent. Some of these things are truly unnecessary...
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  9. Yes, why do we need hybrid buses at this time? Why do need deans at middle schools? Don't the middle schools have principals and assistant principals? Why do we need assistant athletic directors? Are extracurricular sports (which not all students participate in) more important than smaller class sizes?

    My second-grader is in a class of 26 kids this year and I can tell you, having that many kids in a class does affect instruction. The pace that they are going through material is slower. The kids who fall behind are staying behind because the teacher doesn't have the time to give individual instruction. More classroom instruction is being done by parent volunteers. I am one of those volunteers but I will be the first to admit that I am not a trained teacher and I think we all have the expectation that when we send our kids to school, they will be taught by a teacher and not the neighbors.

    And a lot of Loudoun classroooms were not physically designed to hold this many kids. In my son's class, one row of kids sits backed up right to the hooks that hold coats. They spend the day with everyone's winter coats right on their backs. The teacher has tried a lot of different configurations for desks but the dimensions of the room don't give her many options.

    One thing the central administration should bear in mind is that they might keep all their office positions and perks but in a few years, they'll be working for a second or third rate school system. Because that's where Loudoun is headed.
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  10. John,

    Regarding the purchase of these hybrid buses:

    * diesel fuel is about $2.75/gallon
    * there are about 39 weeks of bus usage per year (52 - summer break = 39 - 2 weeks of holidays = 37)
    * assume buses drive about 100 miles per day (just a guess) so 500 miles per week.
    * so 500 miles per week * 37 weeks per year = 18,500/year

    18,500/8 = 2312.5 gallons/year required for diesel bus ($6359.37 @ $2.75/gallon)

    18,500/11 = 1681.81 gallons required/year for hybrid bus ($4625 @ $2.75/gallon)

    The annual savings for the hybrid bus would be $1734.37.

    The additional cost for these hybrid buses is $60,000.

    So $60,000/$1734.37 = 34.59 YEARS TO BREAK EVEN!!!!!

    This of course assumes that there is no additional cost to maintain the hybrid buses over the regular buses and also doesn't account for the additional cost to finance another $60,000 over some time period.

    It is very difficult to understand how the school board etc can complain about a lack of funds etc and then watch these sorts of (moronic) decisions being made.

    Hybrid technology (or any new technology) must be reasonably priced compared to the alternatives AND save the whales before it can be considered ready for prime time. This is especially true in these very touch economic times.

    Any thoughts John?
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  11. My thoughts are that I'm very glad you took the time to express your thoughts here. This is your space to express them, and I make a practice not to debate in the comments in order to encourage people to express their thoughts freely here.
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  12. My kids attend St Theresa's school in Ashburn and their class sizes hover around 30. They seem well organized and kids who need more one on one time receive it either after school or during lunch. I'm a little concerned by the comment above from the "educator" claiming that 27 is too many, and not because she lacks basic grammar and sentence structure skills. Clearly, the threshold of kids per teacher will vary depending upon composition, but to say point blank that 27 is too many is a little shortsighted.
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