Wednesday, April 14, 2010

School Board passes FY2011 budget

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The school board passed its FY2011 budget last night at midnight. The Board started with a proposal by the Superintendent and made three changes.

Notable from this year's budget:
  • Increased average class size at all grade levels
  • Eliminated 28 central office positions
  • Eliminated two principal positions from the four smallest elementary schools
  • Reduced funds for activity buses, field trips and competitions by one third
  • Eliminated assistant athletic trainers
  • Instituted two furlough days for all employees
  • Eliminated proposed 1% cost of living adjustment for all employees
  • Eliminated six high school librarian positions
  • Set funding for instructional materials, supplies & equipment to last year's levels, so that they will be shared by over 3,000 more students and among two new high schools and a new elementary school.
There are many other items on the list, but these will be the most visible to parents. All will affect students.

Changes made by the board to the Superintendent's proposal:
  • Restored freshman sports by changing the painting maintenance cycle for schools from once every 8 years to once every 11 years
  • Restored Middle School Summer School with unspecified reductions in the instructional budget
  • Restored High School Deans and the Assistant Athletic Directors at Woodgrove & Tuscarora High Schools
The JV lacrosse program was originally proposed for cut but was proposed for funding by the Superintendent prior as part of his final budget proposal.
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38 comments:

  1. Did I read the attachment correctly - you had to cut $54 million from the budget? What is the total size of your budget?
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  2. Fred - $29 million of that was from a reduced VRS payment as a result of the new state budget that was passed after the original LCPS budget was proposed. It is a cost that will not be incurred, so the original budget proposal was reduced by that amount.

    It was not a budget reduction like all the other items and I cannot believe they included it in the budget reconciliation list. Now they will be telling everyone they reduced the budget by $54 million instead of $25 million! And they wonder why nobody believes anything they say.
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  3. The list of reductions shows Total costs that will not be incurred ($31,888,000).

    It would be irresponsible, in my opinion, not to note the totals.

    However the header of Total Reductions Required may be improved by renaming it Total Reductions Incurred.
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  4. Last year’s local transfer was $502.8 million. This year it is $452.3 million. How can anyone tell me that it’s not a $50 million reduction in funding from BOS.

    That is a large reduction in local transfer from last year’s budget especially considering LCPS will be opening 3 new schools (2 being High Schools).

    And Fred, the Total Operating Budget last year was $732.6 million. This year it will be $710.3 million.

    The $50+ million in reductions that everyone is upset about is in local transfer from the BOS. The total reduction in operating budget is only $22 million but not counting the additional $20+ million needed to fund the 3,257 new students and the opening of Tuscarora and Woodgrove High Schools and Buffalo Trail Elementary.
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  5. Many take pride in being Loudoun County residents, after all, it is the richest county in the nation. Its schools have been the recipients of numerous awards and its students have gone on to achieve great things. It is disheartening to me that the three posts that preceed my post are negative, filled with blame and looking to condemn. This county is only as good as its schools. People will not choose to move to an area with bad schools. If you want to continue to say that you live in Loudoun County with pride, then consider what makes it great. If this trend of negativity toward Loudoun's schools continues, you will see a change in Loudoun county. Period. The school board works with what it is given from the board of supervisors. There is no fuzzy math here, all numbers are public and had you been following this process for the past few months, you would understand that they are not claiming $54 million worth of cuts. Rather than villianizing one side or the other, make suggestions as to how we can keep our county governing board honest and TRULY representing the voice of its constituents rather than push a personal agenda and suggest how they can foster a productive relationship with our school leaders. What a poor example this budget process has been for our children. I hope this is not an example of what is to come, because if it is, Loudoun County's reputation is at stake. I will not forget this come election time.
    I will also suggest that public leaders embrace our Democratic system of government and SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO PUBLIC SCHOOL. Maybe priorities will be put back in place.
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  6. Next year will be year 13 for me and after two years in a row of pay cuts (insurance costs increase this past school year and two furlough days and an increase in insurance next school year) I will be finally thinking more about myself and less about the students. I'm already assured that my classes will have over 30 students in them.

    Hate to tell you, Hatrick, SB, and parents, I'm not the only teacher that feels this way. It's hard for me to swallow the pay cut so that we can save some fluff jobs and fluff programs/intiatives. Yes, less jobs are beings lost, but many of these jobs were never essential to begin with.

    Profe
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  7. Profe, I agree with you and so do many other teachers. It's not only the furlough days, but the way LCPS employees have been spoken about on blogs such as these.
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  8. Anon @12:54 PM -
    You have no idea what you are talking about. The $54 million reduction was from the school board adopted budget of $764 million - an amount that was completely unreasonable and I have to thank the BOS for recognizing that!

    It just happens that the local xfer was approximately that amount. So if you normalize the $710 million budget for the VRS reduction, which required no "cuts", the budget actually increased by $7 million. What's all the whining about? Everyone is doing more with less these days.
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  9. The VRS payment will be paid with interest. It is deferred.

    Elle
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  10. You are correct that people are trying to do more with less, and no one knows how to make things stretch better than a teacher who for years has been doing more with less, and spending money out of pocket to create educational experiences for your children. In addition teachers are asked to DO MUCH MORE and MAKE LESS. Only a part of a teacher's responsibility is actual instruction and you will be hard-pressed to find a teacher who doesn't work WELL BEYOND their contracted, paid hours. In a society which seems to give respect to those who make the most, it is clear that teachers are given little. There is no whining. Teachers by nature give and give and give, so it is no wonder that they have sadly accepted furlough in an attempt to save colleagues who would otherwise be in financial distress.
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  11. I'd like to know how much money would be saved if schools closed 1 week earlier than they do now. I know there are 15 days built into the calendar for snow days, what is the cost savings for building 10 days into the schedule? How about 5 days? Anybody on the school board thought about this? Could this savings offset the furlough days? Could it offset summer school?
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  12. I believe closing school 5 days early would still result in a lose of income for school personnel. It would save the county money, but again, at the staff's expense.

    Elle
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  13. that shoudl be "loss" not "lose" in the post above.

    Elle
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  14. Closing five days early would not only cost the employee salary but also adjust their retirement. If you paid staff for those days you wouldn't save any money.
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  15. How dare this situation hit our schools? As a resident of this community for over 25 years and a teacher in the system for 19 years, I am appalled. We've seen rough times in our system, but never to this degree. As a teacher, I'm devastated. No COLA because "no other county employee is getting one." How many county employees are also taking 2 furlough days and having health insurance increases, too? On top of that, class sizes increase. On top of that, professional development money and tuition reimbursement is gone. Resource people are gone. So I'm working WAY more with NO additional support for training, with NO additional resources, with BIG class increases...and I am now doing it for 2 days of pay cut?! This is ridiculous. Students are hurt in all of this because of the major strains. All for what? I'm ashamed in my board of supervisors and even more ashamed at how many of these cuts from the SB are hitting the students directly and indirectly. What a disservice to our community.

    A Veteran of LCPS
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  16. What happened last night? The School Board - YET AGAIN - abdicated its role to the Superintendent by largely rubber stamping his proposed 11th hour cuts. So we finally saw that the "tier one" cuts from January were not real after all, but rather a tool of political manipulation to mobilize the masses. Thankfully it really did not work and the Supervisors YET AGAIN intervened to counter a Superintendent that has grown too powerful. When will the members of the School Board realize that they are there to represent the voice of the people back to the system? When will they realize that they are responsible for holding the Superintendent accountable?

    Anyone who has not done so, I strongly recommend that you watch the "feed" of the School Board meeting last night. It was pathetic to watch how impotent this School Board is! They even needed the Superintendent to find a way to keep middle school summer school after round and round of failed attempts for the School Board to figure out a way to do so. Why do we even have them in the first place if all they do is defer to the Superintendent?

    Last night the School Board clearly earned an "F"!
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  17. "No COLA because 'no other county employee is getting one.' How many county employees are also taking 2 furlough days and having health insurance increases, too?"

    Veteran of LCPS said it best.
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  18. LCPS employees: Sorry the county could not afford raises for you this year, but maybe if you remember all those years of 6-12% raises not too long ago, you'll feel better.
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  19. Blame Hatrick, teachers - you know he runs the show.

    BTW, has his "TBD" salary from his newly minted four year contract extension been finalized yet???
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  20. Hatrick plays the political game that all superintendents and other top administrators must play. It is his job to lead and advocate for the school system. Part of the politics is to try and make the superintendent the villian. It's really hard to accept that given that Dr. Hatrick has led this school system well and under his leadership it has become a highly successful school system. Why do we want to settle for mediocrity when we have excellence?

    If these political groups have their way and the next school board fires Dr. Hatrick, it will likely be the end of the fine school system we have today because they will force cuts that will detrimental to the quality of our schools. It takes money to run an effective school system. There is no way to get around it. In addition, a large amount of the school budget is for personnel. Employees who are not valued will seek other employment in counties or even other industries where they will be compensated and respected.

    Don't blame Dr. Hatrick and the school board. Blame the people of this county who have turned our school system into a political battleground.

    If you want to continue to have excellent schools in Loudoun County, ask probing questions and make sure you know who and WHAT you are voting for in the next local election.

    Elle McG
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  21. Anonymous: April 14, 2010 10:25 PM

    Next year makes three years in a row with no step increase. We were given an increase 5 or 6 years ago to put us on par with Fairfax's pay scale. That's the only reason.

    LI, many of us do blame Hatrick, but we have no power to get rid of him.

    Profe
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  22. You know what I'll be voting for next election? A new School Board with the backbone to make fundamental efficiency changes. Of course it takes money to run a school system or anything else, but no one really has any confidence that Hatrick spends it wisely. His annual sky is falling routine and last minute fund discoveries are synptomatic of internal bureaucratic rot.
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  23. Elle McG - Well said!
    Hatrick does a fine job with the challenges he faces and the many parties he must please. His salary in no way represents the endless hours (and years) he has devoted to LCPS. Not to mention that he has handled 10-years of insane growth (thank the BOS for that) with grace. Please look into what Superintendents in states like NY and CT make ...and they are each responsible for only 3-4 elementary schools, 1 middle school and 1 HS. After you do some research you will realize that he (and the teachers in this county) are truly doing what they do out of a labor of love for the profession. Speaking of which, what other professions must defend their salary...only the financial CEOs who swiped your bank account. LCPS employees are shaping the future of your children. You entrust us with their care each and every day. Don't you want the best possible teachers with knowlege and good character guiding your children? I have a bachelor degree, two masters degrees and 30 additional graduate credit to boot. I am sure with my educational background I can be making the big bucks somewhere, but I love what I do and know that what I do will make its stamp on society. Aren't you lucky?
    No wonder teacher recruitment is a battle.
    End the ignorance. Speak out about what matters when BOS are up for re-election. They are the ones calling the shots.
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  24. I have a very hard time accepting the idea of "fully funding" something without knowing all the details. After all, I am helping to pay for this through my taxes.

    Dr. Hatrick had $20 million he wanted to tuck away in this year's budget for something - still don't know exactly what it was for and I don't know if we will ever know.

    I also remember last year that the school board was upset because they had saved around $20 million from last year's budget that they wanted to carry over to this year. Not sure if the budget last year was "fully funded", but seems to me that whatever budget the school board started with, they didn't need it all - that's why the BoS took it back. And this was with an anticipated growth of around 3k students - same as this year.

    Obviously whoever is doing the budget is not looking at what was actually spent the previous year and seeing what could be saved going forward. Seems to me that all they do is take last years budget and assume an increase of whatever and there is the budget.

    And the citizens are supposed to rubber stamp (fully fund) this?
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  25. Finally some sort of reasonable thinking from Loudoun County. Sorry to the Board of Ed faculty involved, but the country and the residents of Loudoun County need some relief.
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  26. Psstt... anonymous at April 15, 2010 2:37 PM your taxes will be increasin, fyi.
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  27. John, I'm curious, where were the School Board goals during the reconiliation process? Many of the items restored do not support the achievement of the goals.
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  28. and I just about fell out of my chair when I heard Personnel/Recruitment staff representative say if the recruitment budget were cut further, as Oheiser had proposed, they wouldn't be able to recruit minorities. Since when are their no minorities in Virginia? Come on!?! Recruiting budget should have been severely cut.
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  29. Amen, pp. That employee was probably talking about trips abroad to recruit VIF teachers.

    Profe
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  30. The only goal is to do whatever Hatrick wants to do.
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  31. so not only don't I get a step increase or a COLA, NOW I have to have a PAY CUT!! due to furloughs. How many other county employees are getting furloughs?? Then I get a call from Eddie saying he is going to send me a survey to help decide which days I would prefer be furloughed! Well, what I would like to see is NO furlough and a decrease in those school jobs that are NON JOBS- such as fles and sams-(thank you to the 2 school board members who supported such a move!) I spoke to a fles teacher- she dislikes the program because she has no decision making power, she states " I teach the same lessons to all the grades, I can't do worksheets, do reading, or anything more than what I am told." The child in the fifth grade has had the same lessons for 5 years!!!!! Unbelieveable. And this promotes global awareness how? Just goes to show that the school board does not even know what it's own programs are doing. Wonder what Eddie's interest really is here? Maybe it just looks good on paper.
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  32. You teachers really need to band together and expose more stuff like that. It's the only way you're going to get rid of Darth Vader. Until then you'll simply be pawns in his game of personal aggrandizment.
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  33. I would like to know of the professional who would like to inherit this county as school superintendent. A county that has a BOS that values public education so little that they don't even send their kids to public schools. If anyone has overrun their power it's the BOS. And for all of you Loudeners with kids the BOS may say they are providing you with "relief",but really you're going to pay up one way or another. So your taxes may not be greatly impacted, but you will see higher fees everywhere else. The BOS philosophy is to come across as the "good guy" but keep track of all the things that you will pay more for this year and then decide if one or two entra pennies added to your taxes would have been a better deal.
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  34. I heard from a reliable source that closing schools one week early would save about the same amount of money as the furlough days, without costing anyone any pay. And that the county knew this.
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  35. Of course it would, anon, but that wouldn't fire up the troops as much as furloughs. It's all about creating political noise for Hatrick so he can keep doing things the way he wants to do them.
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  36. I think closing school 5 days early WOULD cost employees pay. It would cut short the contract days of all school personnel such as teachers, guidance counselors, food services, etc. Why do you think it would save money? Mostly due to a reduction in employee costs. If I am wrong about this, I hope Mr. Stevens will set the record straight.

    Having misinformation floating around out there will make some happy because it continues to support their causes.

    Elle McG
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  37. So, do you know this for certain? Or is it just I think this is the case?

    My information came directly from a teacher. This teacher said they get paid the same amount no matter how many days are in the school calendar. Seems to me this is a no brainer - but I'd like to hear it from someone from the School Board. What is the impact if we cut 5 days from the school year? How much do we save? Do ANY employees lose money because of this?

    My point is really that the perception of those making the decisions are not making those decisions with all the information they have. They are making decisions they know will rile the public up enough to speak out so they will get EVERYTHING the ask for.

    You cannot deny that requiring employees to take furlough days is the only way to save money. I'm sure there are plenty of other areas where savings could be found. After all, Dr. Hatrick magically found $31 million in savings at the last minute. Maybe he knew about this before and maybe he didn't - I don't think we'll ever know.
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  38. The High School summer school should have been mandatory. Many students may have difficulties in a subject and this gives them an opportunity to retake it. Some students opt to take an elective counting on summer school to get the required course done. The alternative we are now given is a $695 online course. I can't pay that, it would be cheaper to go to NOVA but the county chose to line up with George Mason. Use your brains Board. Elementary school should have been cut. Most elementary school programs are now for Spanish Speakers, they can get FREE classes at so many places now, that it should not be a summer concern. I wonder what the drop out rates will look like with no summer HS. How many kids will be willing to go that 5th year to graduate and how many going for an advanced degree will now drop back to a general degree. Not a Climate of Success if you as me. How about cutting the inschool training each elementary teacher gets (don't know if this is the same for middle and hs) where several hundred subs are needed to take over the classrooms?

    And Finally, how do you justify cutting all assistant athlectic directors except for the brand new schools?

    It is sad to see and experience the disparity that exists in the poorer parts of Loudoun county vs. the more affluent. Our children are not getting an equal education from school to school.
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