Don’t cut funding, CC school officials tell supervisors

School Board members and representatives from Charles City’s schools urged county supervisors not to cut school funding during a public hearing on the county’s proposed $22.5 million budget for 2008-09.

Schools are slated to receive $6.1 million in county money next year, a figure that is $1 million below the $7.1 million schools’ requested and about $900,000 below the $7 million county contribution for the current year.

About 25 school officials and employees attended the April 14 hearing. School Superintendent Janet Crawley expressed her concern on what budget cuts could do to employment at the schools.

“We are thankful to the Board of Supervisors for all of the support they have given us, but we are also worried about our staff personnel,” Crawley told supervisors.

“With the increasing cost of gas and with our school system being in a rural area, it is becoming difficult to keep teachers and administrators in our school system,” she said.

Along with Crawley, some School Board members voiced their concerns. Chairman Barbara Crawley said cutting school funding could cause irreparable harm.

“The cuts will affect the funding on both the teachers and students at the school. The mandates by the department of education will be affected by the cuts,” she said.

“We are tired of the Charles City School System being a training ground for teachers. We need to establish our own identity,” the chairman said.

While the superintendent and chairman addressed cuts from an educational standpoint, School Board member Royce Paige spoke about physical deterioration of the schools.

“The carpets in the middle school need to be thoroughly cleaned. Along with that, there are several problems with the water pipes underneath the high school gymnasium. We have to find somebody to do that work,” Paige said.

County resident Steve Fuhrmann stressed that the county has spent more money on students than necessary over the last eight years and still hasn’t produced results.

“While I strongly support education, the school system has spent $50 million over the last eight years. The schools could have spent $20 million over that time period, whereas the money would have been matched by state funding,” Fuhrmann said.

“The schools continue to underachieve, as they lack meeting basic student standards,” he continued.

“The high school and middle school are both accredited with warning,” he said, pointing to recent Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores.

Former Board of Supervisors member Floyd Miles Sr. spoke on behalf of a group of citizens who believe the budget is only a snapshot of its true picture.

“As I look at this budget, I can’t even get an idea what the budget is for fuel and public works,” Miles said, pointing out how county vehicles were being used for personal use.

“We should have been looking at the expenditures the whole time, and I don’t understand how a seven-cent tax increase will generate any more revenue,” he continued.

“The raise in taxes will not help our revenue, but it will hurt people on a set income,” said Miles, noting senior citizens who must budget for medications and food.

Board members Timothy Cotman and Sherri Bowman commented on how difficult the budget decisions are for the board.

“We are grateful for the concerns, especially of our School Board,” said Cotman. “We will take these into deep consideration before making our final decision.”

“We recognize and are concerned for our citizens,” said Bowman. “We have a lot of challenges before us and we thank everyone for being patient.”