The Albemarle County School Board held a public hearing Thursday night to discuss the $7 million school budget deficit as well as Superintendent Pam Moran’s $164.28 million funding request.
Moran attributed the spending gap largely to federal and state mandated spending, as well as increased enrollment and rising costs.
“[T]he revenue we received from local government has been nearly $15 million below projections at the time our budgets were adopted,” Moran said in a press release. “This continuing revenue shortfall coincides with $6.8 million in directed or mandated increases in expenditures for the 2014-15 school year.”
Mandated expenditures include new contributions to the Virginia Retirement System, increased employee compensation and employee medical insurance costs.
Additional costs include $816,000 to “support an increase in overall student enrollment as well as growth and changing demographics in our special education and ESOL populations,” Moran said.
The public was invited to speak at the hearing and address the board. A large majority of speakers expressed support for the superintendent’s budget proposal, but many were concerned about what cuts could mean for Albemarle’s schools.
“When I think about what teachers mean to our students and the impact that they can have in terms of helping them grow … it’s a little scary as to what could happen with cuts to staffing,” Monticello High School Principal Jesse Turner said.
Some also expressed a fear of increased class sizes or cuts to specialized programs, such as Paul H. Cale Elementary School’s world language program or the new Environmental Studies Academy opening at Western Albemarle High School.
“More often than not when these cuts occur, one of the first places they go is class sizes,” Woodbrook Elementary School Principal Lisa Molinaro said. “Many of our students require more time and intervention. Our most at-risk students cannot afford this loss of instruction.”
The School Board will decide next Tuesday whether to support Moran’s budget in its current form before sending it to the Board of Supervisors.
Though the Board of Supervisors will have to approve the revenues that go to the Albemarle County Public Schools, the School Board will decide the specifics of the budget.
“I do not see our deficit as an Albemarle County spending problem but as a revenue problem,” Moran said. “It is costing us over 500 per child to carry the [Virginia Retirement System]. What that does is it kicks you back down on how much we are actually spending on kids once you take inflation into account and growth into account. We do have a mandate problem.”
Read More
Students have federal internship offers rescinded due to hiring freeze
By Nina Broderick | 2 days agoUntil July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled, and no new positions may be created.
Man dies from self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the Rotunda
By Ford McCracken | 2 days agoThe investigation is ongoing, and additional details are not available at this time.
Virginia primary elections feature contested race for Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate
By Nicolas Biernacki | 3 days agoEligible voters can find more information about early voting by consulting the City Department of Voter Registration & Elections website or the County Department of Elections website.
