The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
The 2008-09 operating budget that the School Board got its hands on late Monday night was anything but flashy. The proposed budget has enough money for raises and to keep the division running.
There isn’t enough money for new programs.
The $436.9 million budget comes with money for raises , new buses, equipment to get Oscar Smith Middle School and Grassfield High School’s new Technology Academy up and running, new teaching and staff positions – and the threat of cuts.
Administrators said they expect the city to announce Tuesday evening that city revenue won’t be as high as predicted. The school division was banking on those predictions, and getting $7.3 million more in city funding than last year, when it crafted the operating budget.
Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols said he had a feeling that significant changes would be made to the proposed budget in the coming months.
“Mostly in the wrong direction,” he said.
Officials did not say which schools or programs they would look to, if cuts have to be made.
Chesapeake will present the proposed budget again, at public budget hearings at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 and 25 .
In March the board will vote on the budget and give it to the city. The budget should be finalized in late May.
Amy Couteé, (757) 222-5216, amy.coutee@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Trickle down....
Thanks Bush and other Republicans for totally killing the real estate market and economy! We are really feeling it at the local level! Bush's "Shock and Awe" has totally "shocks" me as I look at how much money he has cost me and my fellow Americans in Iraq, yet he is still in "awe" of himself due to his own ignorant bliss! I can not wait until November 2008 regardless of who the new president is!!
That's what happens
When you plan a budget around taxes generated from a housing market that could only collapse under it's own weight. Just wait to see what happens as more people try to move from Hampton Roads because of it's whacked out cost of living.
Welcome to the real world
Here are the facts:
05-06 budget $345.5 million, 06-07 budget $389.9 million, 07-08 budget $404.9 million, 08-09 budget $436.9 million. Thats a +26% increase over three budget cycles. Enrollment has DECREASED from 40,121 to 38,890 over the years 2005 to 2007. I hardly think this is "barebones". And in fact there are "new programs" at at least two schools referenced in your article. These government folks need to work in the real world and have to earn their money rather than just putting their hand into our pockets. Every year in private industry we are asked for 5 - 10% budget CUTS to stay competitive and stay in business. How do we do it? Inovation, productivity improvements, cutting waste, and questioning every expense. Every level of government should do the same - from the federal government to the school board.
School Budget
37% of 1.3 billion of Va Lottery proceeds went to Virginia Public Schools in 2007. If we didn't have the lottery, it's beginning to look like we wouldn't be able to even operate a school system. Apparently this isn't enough. Since a form of gambling is already financing the school system, why not go all the way. Go ahead and make Virginia Beach a Gambling Mecca, similar to Las Vegas, since the oceanfront already looks like it. A lot of Virginia's money is going to Dover's, & Atlantic City's treasuries. The taxes would certainly exceed the lottery's contributions after the whole east coast filed in to feed the slot machines.