Teacher Raises Preserved, Transportation Takes Hit

With bus routes taking the brunt of the hit and 3 percent school system employee raises in tact, the Loudoun School Board closed the $7.7 million gap between its desired FY 2012 budget and the one county supervisors approved, unanimously adopting a $746 million FY 2012 operating budget Wednesday night. The vote also included a $3.5 million reduction in funds from the Virginia Retirement System.

Despite some chagrin over the cuts, several school board members commented that negotiations with supervisors went relatively smooth this year.

J. Warren Geurin (Sterling) said that after acrimonious budget debates with supervisors during the first two years of both boards’ terms, the past two years were a great improvement. He cited mutual respect among other key areas to build on, “so what happened this year becomes more automatic.”

Bob Ohneiser, the school board representative for Broad Run, echoed the sentiments of a clearly ailing Geurin, who arrived at the meeting just for the budget vote.

“We need to recognize the lack of wrangling that was there this year,” said Ohneiser, who called the $7.7 million reduction “a very small impact.”

School board members did not stray from Hatrick’s initial budget proposal when they submitted the budget request to county supervisors – who hold the budget purse strings in Virginia – nor did they buck Hatrick’s recommendations for the required cuts.

“We believe it is a way to reconcile a change in the budget that will do the least harm to our school system,” Hatrick told school board members before their vote Wednesday night.

Despite the positive comments and the preservation of raises, some school board members took the opportunity to say supervisors failed to understand the real implications of the $7.7 million cut.

“There will be, regrettably, no matter how well they do this, some diminished level in our transportation service. It’s unfortunate, but that’s what we’ll be facing,” said Dulles school board member Robert DuPree.

School board member Jennifer Bergel (Catoctin) said she cast her vote “with absolute frustration,” saying her constituents would likely face the greatest impacts because few schools in the rural part of the county offer walking opportunities. Some students currently have extensive rides to and from school, she said. However, Bergel said she could not in good conscience vote against the budget and employee raises.

“So I will be voting tonight for my four children to sit on buses longer because that is the right thing to do,” she said.

Leesburg representative Tom Marshall was more direct as he called the county board’s cut “mean-spirited.”

Supervisors had signaled a desire for the school board to take the reductions primarily from transportation after comparing the costs to those of Chesterfield County, a peer county.

“The comparison was based on information taken off of a state report,” Hatrick said, promising to make the distinctions more clear to supervisors next year. “Chesterfield County and Loudoun County have a number of differences, no the least of which is the cost of living, which influences the salaries of the bus drivers.”

Hatrick and Jeffrey Platenberg, an assistant superintendent, said Loudoun was larger (519 square miles compared to Chesterfield’s 425) with a higher student population. In addition, bus monitors that Chesterfield counts as instructional staff are counted in Loudoun’s transportation budget.

Furthermore, Hatrick said the Loudoun schools transportation service is a model other school systems aspire to mimic. Platenberg said his counterpart at Fairfax County Public Schools had asked earlier in the day to review Loudoun’s operations.

Despite concerns from Bergel that students in her district would be disproportionately affected, Platenberg said, “It will not only be in the west in terms of impact.”

Hatrick said the staff members would look at the possibility of allowing more walking routes by reassessing pedestrian safety around county schools. In addition, it’s possible some schools would be released in two phases.

“It won’t be easy, but our goal will be to stay within the school board policy to the extent possible,” Hatrick said. Platenberg said it would take until the end of summer before the bus route changes could be mapped and the anticipated impact assessed.

School board chairman and Potomac representative John Stevens expressed concerned about cuts to the library services, but Hatrick assured him that he worked closely with the library system to make sure impacts there were minimal.

The county and school boards have worked together in a joint committee for the past four years in an attempt to smooth over the relationship between the bodies.

The following are the school adjustments adopted as part of the budget approval:

• Eliminate the lease-purchase of 34 additional school buses ($3,842,000) and new school bus drivers ($1,222,336)
• Eliminate the lease-purchase of replacement buses ($1,695,000)
• 3 percent Systemwide Part-time/Overtime reduction            ($276,829)
• Department of Business and Financial Services, software and equipment ($100,000)
• Department of Instruction ($180,000). Defer joint Schools/County procurement of a library cataloguing system.
• Department of Pupil Services ($256,500). Special education contractual services reduced. Printing funds also reduced through greater use of electronic transmission. Remaining reductions spread across different categories.
• Superintendent’s Office ($100,000). Legal fees charged to the Superintendent’s Office have declined over the past few years, and reduction matches anticipated costs.
• Department of Personnel Services ($55,000) Reduce and defer software upgrades.
• Department of Planning and Legislative Services ($17,335). Reductions are taken in various accounts to minimize impact on service delivery.