Approval

The Roanoke County School Board approved its 2010-2011 school budget Thursday evening.

Thanks to the 50/50 revenue(loss) sharing agreement with the county that saved the schools about 3.0 million, the state's generous VRS holiday extended to school divisions across the state which saved Roanoke County Schools about 4.5 million, and the voluntary retirement by almost 100 employees, the budget was doable without requiring personnel to be laid-off. The school system was even able to pay insurance premium increases and our VRS contribution.


While the fact that all employees who want to keep their jobs will have jobs next year bolsters us, there is little else to cheer in the budget. Drastic cuts do not come without cost. People need to understand that. The VRS holiday is a double-edged sword for the schools because the holiday is over next year, and the vacated funds will need to be repaid with 7.5% interest.

Over the course of the budget discussion, my one criticism is that there was too much sugar-coating of the cuts. For example, administrators who would review with the school board specific cuts and how they will be handled within the school program would frequently make statements about how the instructional program would not be negatively impacted. In some cases, they stated that the program would be more stream-lined or that the pupil/teacher ratio would be well within state guidelines. Yet, the reality is that when you lose another 52 positions (due to retirement) without replacing those employees on top of all the employees who left without being replaced last year, you really can't say that the instructional program won't be affected.


The reality, however, is that the instructional program may be affected in the future. You simply can't sugar-coat that and wish it was not true. When you eliminate as many positions as we have over these two budgets cycles, the program will suffer.

Overall however, the School Board, Dr. Lange, Penny Hodge, and the staff really worked together to solve the most challenging budget dilemma in anyone's memory. They deserve our thanks.

The Board of Supervisors will entertain the School Board's budget on April 13 at 3pm. They are expected to give their approval.

Later in the meeting, the Board was updated on the Formative Assessment program. They were told that the program was effective and well-received by teachers. I was wondering if teachers in the county share that assessment.