Thursday, April 8, 2010

Budget Hearings

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The School Board held a public hearing tonight on the proposed cuts to the school budget. We used a modified format, spending the first hour off the dais listening to and responding to the people who had come to speak. I got very good feedback from Board members afterwards, and one speaker who thanked us for the time spent in dialogue received wide applause from the audience.

Before we began, I spoke on behalf of the Board:

Many of you are here tonight in defense of a program or a position that you hold dear. We want you to know that we hold them dear too. While each board member has individual views about individual matters, as a board we hold that every job and every employee and every program at LCPS is important to kids. If it we felt something wasn’t important to kids, we wouldn’t have it to begin with. We agree
that cutting them will affect kids.

There are a few facts we want you to know:

• The entire central office budget is less than the size of the cut we need to make
• There are no white boards in the budget, and very little technology spending at all
• There are no new initiatives in the budget
• There is no $20M reserve fund

None of us are enthusiastic about the choices we face. We do not have good options, easy answers or painless solutions. Our choices range from bad to worse. This is not a budget that we can balance by tinkering around the edges. We know how important your schools are to you, we appreciate that you have taken the time to be with us and to write to us, and we are here to listen.


We hold another public hearing on Monday April 12th, I have asked the Board whether they want to repeat the new format. We will vote on the final budget on Tuesday April 13th.
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5 comments:

  1. Who makes more teachers or architects???????

    http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-is_34.06_per_hour_underpaid.htm
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  2. Does it really matter what the loudoun taxpayers bring up and complain about to the school board and Dr Hatrick....No. Their minds are made up. Just look at the hit list. See what their priorities are. It reminds me of the airline industry. The fees for luggage, pillow, blanket and food. At Loudoun county public schools soon, each student will have to pay a fee to sit at a desk, ride the bus, and various other stupid fees to pay for Dr Hatrick and his buddies lifestyle. Shame on the school board for not doing a better job of prioritizing cuts. Shame on the school board for always wanting to raise fees on High School students(a small part of the taxpayer's base). Shame on the school board for not shutting down schools that cost way too much or pushing back opening 3 new schools.
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  3. I agree. It is time to close the small schools. However, you should note that the Board of Supervisors is the group proposing to construct and open all the new schools....with what money???? They took all the money.
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  4. What data are you using anonymous? Closing 4 community schools in rural Loudoun will only save $2.2 million and this is debatable because all of the teachers and staff would be needed to teach the students somewhere else. Also, transportation costs would be more to bus them east or north. And as you stated the capital costs to build a new school and operate it are substantial. All 4 community schools are paid for unlike new construction. I think it would be a better use of taxpayer dollars to maximize what we already own. Expand the boundaries and fill the schools or expand the school and take more kids from the eastern schools that are overcrowded. I don't think we can afford to shut down any seats when we have 3,000 entering students a year.
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  5. The problem is Roberts you don't have enough money to fund your schools, so every dollar does count. Last time I counted, 2.2 million dollars IS a lot of money. That's the problem with LCPS, they have lost perspective on dollars and sense (pune intended). When you have schools with low classroom enrollment out West it does add up to more teachers than needed. Closing Hillsboro ES and pushing those students to Mountain View (3 miles away) would push to fill the classrooms at Mountain View that are low in numbers. Instead, LCPS is choosing to move teachers out of MV for next school year. This makes the student to teacher ratio better but leaves a relatively new building being used at half to 3/4 its capacity. If Hillsboro were closed and the students moved to MV that would better use the MV facility. LCPS could possibly sell or lease the Hillsboro facility to a day care provider. I bet all of the West Virginia commuters coming in Route 9 would appreciate that.
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