To me some of the below is what is gonna push consolidation through. Even the $50,000 dollar study done, said to cut the fat at the top. Basically the central office.
I think these people mean well.
But as i have come to see. The new Superintendent, he is gonna let them lead, and set back and do what has to be done.
When no one can stop the spending and then consolidation is the only answer.. I have to wonder if that is what some want. But are just afraid to say it. Or if they truly don't understand, that their doing exactly what some wanted. Spend, spend, spend until they cannot be funded any longer, and they have to consolidate.
You spend $50,000 dollars on a study that says cut at the top. And nothing is done? Was that study just a waste also?
This study just didn't say to consolidate, to save and try to be more efficient.
It pointed out a lot of cost savings. Some of which i don't think some looked at.
Sometimes you've just got to get it off your chest.
That's how county school board Chairman Barry Nelson felt about the school system's budget deliberations with the county Monday night, he said in a Tuesday telephone interview.
Although Nelson recently had surgery for prostate cancer and was not able to sit through Monday night's school board workshop meeting, he made a brief appearance before the meeting to set the record straight.
"I was perplexed about some comments I'd read in the paper,"? Nelson said Tuesday. "I read that we had added two new positions, but we have not. We have only reorganized our staff and gave them added responsibilities,"? he said of a central office reorganization plan suggested by schools Superintendent Greg Killough.
Only one truly new position has been created, Nelson said, and part of the duties that person will cover will include grant-writing, which could help the position pay for itself, Nelson said.
About $79,000 is set aside in the county schools budget for the reorganization.
Nelson said he'd rather not talk about the comments he's referring to or the paper that carried the story.
"This board has not been uncooperative,"? Nelson said, noting that the school system has reduced its request for new money from the county by more than $500,000, from about $1.44 million to about $825,000. "We thought that would be an acceptable sum."?
But during a budget workshop Thursday, supervisors discussed asking the school system to reduce that request by another $200,000, to about $625,000.
Nelson pointed out that while the school system is asking for an additional $825,000 to supplement its operations budget, it has reduced requests for local money in its debt service and capital outlay budget.
"The budget process doesn't need to be a battle of words or personalities,"? Nelson said. "It should be a process which, at its heart, has our most important constituents in mind "? the students of Wise County."?
Nelson said Tuesday that he felt as if the county may have misunderstood some details of the school system's budget and reorganization plan. Asked if he had contacted the county administrator or any member of the board of supervisors, Nelson said it's just not his place.
"I don't think that's part of my function,"? Nelson said. "I'm the chairman, but I'm still just one board member. Dr. Killough has to be the point person here."?
Budget savings
Assistant County Administrator Shannon Scott said in a Tuesday telephone interview that savings have been identified from the school system for both debt service and capital outlay.
Ron Vicars, schools finance director, confirmed that the debt service budget is down $157,000 from the previous year's debt payments, and the local money required for capital outlay has fallen by $28,500.
Since those portions of the budget are listed separately from the operations budget, they are easy to overlook, Vicars said.
Scott agreed, and noted that those savings had not been identified until after the supervisors' Thursday budget workshop.
But the county is examining the option of financing most of the $7.5 million it will cost to build two new gymnasiums and classrooms at Coeburn Middle and Powell Valley Primary schools. If the school system qualifies for a loan subsidized by the Virginia School Boards Association, that will add about $280,750 back in to the school system's debt service budget this year and for each year over the life of the loan. If not, debt service each year will be about $580,750.
"We were concentrating on the new debt service number,"? Scott said.
Since the $185,000 in debt service and capital outlay savings have been identified, the county will only ask the school system to reduce its budget by $100,000, Scott said.
"They did receive some benefit when those savings were identified,"? Scott added.
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