Budget Workshop 2/8/2012

Budget Workshop 2/8/12

Superintendent’s Comments

· Difficult decisions. Employees haven’t had a raise for four years. We won’t balance budget or make decisions tonight.

· Keep integrity of classroom and try not to lay off employees

Revenues: (Penny Hodge)

· Sitting in a $4.7 million hole for VRS.

· Sales tax reimbursement are low. These numbers are based on 2010 Census. Weldon/Cooper interprets the numbers for the state to determine our payment. Jerry Canada expressed frustration at the appeal process.

· 3% salary increase would cost $2.679 million.

· Schools had preliminary budget deficit of $9.8 million

· County then suggested they would withdraw $2.6 million from the transfer, further indebting us.

· Penny discussed the 54 items “on the table” for cuts. No discussion.

SOQ: (Carol Whitaker) No hand-outs for us…

· Despite our cuts, we still meet the SOQ requirements.

· Carol was directed to give the school board a more detailed list of positions.

Technology Plan (Cecil Snead) These are simply discussions…not policy meetings (Thom)

· Cecil said that we need $731,100 to stay in business. Servers, wireless, email,5^th year warranty,etc.

· We can save $500,000 by pulling back on the laptop program and maintaining it at a basic level.

· Such austerity will do nothing for replacing teacher laptops.

· Discussion centered on teacher’s use of technology. Jerry Canada states that teachers have moved to laptops and integrating technology into classroom instruction. He didn’t want to steer us away from that investment. Not sure that there is any consensus view emerging.

· Forward thinking from Cecil: Looking at other technologies in the future. Like “Bring your own technology”…Kindle, Droid, etc…Our system isn’t there yet. But it’s worth exploring and visiting. What’s stopping us from tablets is that they are unforgiving when destruction occurs. We are not close to having tablets replace laptops. We would need tablets to replace textbooks, but they aren’t yet available to VA texts.

· Jerry Canada wants to survey students to find out how many today don’t have internet access at home. He thinks that carting laptops might allow us to save money while more affordable technology develops.

· David Wymer suggested that we can shift our paradigm a bit so that we have a cluster of laptops to share with those that don’t.

· Fuzzy Minnix stated that technology has taken us to where we are today, but we need to look at this item to consider cuts.

Classified Pool Discussion (Carol Whitaker)

· Carol is amazed by the amount of work these individuals do after looking at their job requirements.

· She presented a detailed list to the board (we were not afforded a copy).

· A discussion erupted that wasn’t directly related to classified employees…as continued in the remarks below.

· David Wymer asked for the study. He wants to maximize their utilization. Jerry Canada affirmed that view. This study will aid in protecting jobs.

· Jerry Canada stated that he doesn’t want to entertain salary raises if people are being laid-off. Dr. Lange retorted that she doesn’t want to lay these people off (classified)

· Drew Barrineau commended Dr. Lange for protecting jobs. He said that an employee who is offered cross-training opportunities only builds their credentials.

· Jerry Canada asked for two or three running budgets…one that incorporates everything we want, one that has no raises, and highlights no technology increases. Drew also asked for another look that includes a bonus option instead of a salary increase option.

· Fuzzy Minnix talked about reaching a point where we will be down 10% in personnel. He said that we are reaching a point when our educational program in negatively impacted.

· Jerry Canada mentioned that revenue will be dried up for four of five years according to Sen. Warner. How do we budget for a flat revenue growth over the next five years. We need to look ahead.

· Fuzzy Minnix longs for the day when education is as important as a road in Northern Virginia.

· Mike Stovall stated that a secretary in Washington said that less than 1% of Federal budget goes to K-12 education. “We just can’t cut our way out of this situation.” Fuzzy, Jerry, David all agreed.

Revision to Early Retirement Plan

· Drew Barrineau suggested this study. He wants to continue the program, but he thinks it may need to change so that we can assure that it can be afforded. He may want to cap it. It will be decided tomorrow night in an action item.

Probationary Teacher Status

· Best guess…Carol Whitaker doesn’t have a realistic idea of needs based on enrollment. She can do that in March. She has to get through staffing. Jerry mentioned that there’s a difference between lay-offs and non-renewal’s due to lack of need. Carol says she will know about elementary school staffing next week.

· General discussion

Closing Comments

· Adjourned