CC School Board undecided on coping with budget woes

Charles City School Board members convened for the first time since the county’s Board of Supervisors revealed its budget for fiscal year 2013-14. Needless to say, the local contribution of funds to Charles City schools has not only perplexed school board members, but left them in a temporary stalemate after their Tuesday night work session.

Superintendent of schools Janet Crawley spoke to board members about her meeting with county administrator Zach Trogdon on March 27. Crawley mentioned the briefness of the meeting and some of the concerns supervisors had about schools.

“Mr. Trogdon came into the office and said the Board of Supervisors wanted us to look at the HVAC in the schools, salaries, and textbooks,” said Crawley.

Supervisors have appropriated $4,581,216 in local funds for next year. That amount is $200,000 less than what schools expected to receive based on level funding from this year’s budget.

“From my view, that $200,000 was compromised,” commented Crawley.

At-large school board member Steve Fuhrmann commented on his viewpoint that supervisors are sending mixed messages.

“The board [of supervisors] supports our textbooks, salary increase, and HVAC repairs, but still provides a flat base amount,” he said. “What I get out of this is that the Board of Supervisors is trying to match local funds and options and expects that our total funds are allocated to [salary, textbooks, and HVAC]. That’s my understanding of it.”

Schools are seeking $157,716 to cover textbooks and Gov. Bob McDonnell’s two percent raise for school employees. School officials are afraid that those funds may be expected to be pulled out of the proposed $4.5 million dollars allocated for the next fiscal year, resulting in $357,716 of cuts that they may have to make.

“You’re going to have a budget that’s going to implode not explode, in the near future,” added Crawley. She was scheduled to meet with Trogdon on Wednesday.

Those financial matters can also be considered in another matter school board members addressed at the work session. Members spoke about the vacancy left by former director of administrative services Melvin Robertson’s resignation.

Robertson resigned on Feb. 7 for unspecified reasons. Now, Crawley said that other staff members are having difficulty with handling the multiple tasks that Robertson took care of and with a lack of funds. She said it’s unclear if schools would be able to hire someone for the position in the near future.

Fuhrmann made a proposal in an effort to relieve some of the duties. He spoke about the possibility of a full reorganization of positions. His recommendation includes hiring a full-time finance director to oversee positions.

After District 1 board member Helen Payne-Jones asked about the number of positions Fuhrmann was suggesting, he responded by saying the reorganization would consist of three positions in the areas of transportation, grounds management, and food services. He also said that human resources would be an area to look at, but added he had doubts that they would be able to hire a full-time human resources director.

“This is a lot of responsibilities for one candidate to hold,” said Payne-Jones as she reviewed a list supplied to all school board members on the duties that were conducted by Robertson.

“Not to mention how we could pay for it,” she added referring to the tight budget.

“All these [duties] for one person to digest is difficult,” added at-large member Preston Adkins. “Getting somebody to come and do this is going to be hard to do.”

In another issue, school board members endorsed an agreement for postsecondary degree attainment through its partnerships with Virginia State University and John Tyler Community College.

Board members voted 4-0 (District 3 representative Martha Harris was not present at the time of the vote) to support an agreement to offer a one-year general education certificate and a 61-credit associate degree. The proposed agreement calls for the addition of dual enrollment classes. Proposed courses include biology, political science, and history.

According to director of special services Patricia Alexander, certified teachers would teach the courses on campus. Currently, dual enrollment is only offered in English. Class credits earned toward the associates’ degree would be transferrable to most universities.

District 2 chairwoman Barbara Crawley said she sees a lot of positives on the new opportunity in voicing her support for the addition of new classes.

“I’m glad we are in the consortium where we can offer dual enrollment,” she said. “I am glad we are able to bring these courses to the school.”

Janet Crawley said with the board’s blessing that a gathering of superintendents in the area will meet in May to sign the agreement.