THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: OPINION
SOURCE: By NANCY GUY
LENGTH: 70 lines
The editorial ``Tie in with city now'' (Oct. 1) oversimplifies a very complex issue. Before citizens accept the editorial's theme (``The School Board should stop procrastinating and begin consolidating''), they deserve to hear the rationale behind the decision to defer the prior board's commitment to consolidation of school financial services with the city's corresponding departments.
These are some of the reasons:
First, there are legal limits on what responsibility the School Board can delegate. School Board members are constitutional officers of the state. General statutes mandate, ``Each school board shall manage and control the funds made available to the school board for public schools.'' The attorney general allows only ``ministerial'' functions to be delegated.
Second, almost every educational policy decision has financial aspects whether that is determining class size or building a new school. If School Board members are to be held accountable for financial decisions, to the point that they can be (and were) indicted if it's perceived that funds aren't monitored correctly, then it stands to reason that the people who oversee the money should work for the School Board. It is also noteworthy that the majority of funding for Virginia Beach public schools comes from the state and federal governments, not from city appropriations.
Third, consolidation of financial services is an untested idea that is not the governmental norm. City administration has never provided the School Board with information on a successful model of financial consolidation. The board consulted the Virginia School Board Association which advised that out of 136 school divisions in Virginia, only four had attempted any financial-services consolidation. None of the four scenarios were as sweeping as that contemplated in Virginia Beach, and all involved small systems, the largest of which is approximately 20 percent the size of ours. No other system in Hampton Roads has even discussed the issue.
Fourth, this issue has been driven by emotion and not objective data. The earlier resolution ``committing'' to consolidation was passed by a politically embarrassed School Board beholden to City Council for help in funding the 1994-95 deficit. The data supporting consolidation was largely the result of an internal examination by city employees who stood to gain by the subsequent expansion of their operations.
Fifth, the ``cost savings'' cited by the city finance director's report, and quoted verbatim in the editorial, are illusory. They come primarily from eliminating already vacant positions which could be eliminated in the school system's next budget cycle. The costs associated with necessary ``cross-training'' are never quantified in the report. The savings cited to come from ``joint purchasing'' are not related to actual purchases and the benefits of ``bulk purchasing'' could in reality imperil the system's educational discounts offered by vendors.
It is also baffling how ``improved service'' can be achieved by removing departments from the people they serve. Any improved service cited in the report seemingly comes from technology improvements which the school system sorely needs regardless of consolidation.
Finally, much has changed since fiscal year 1994-95. Virginia Beach public schools have a new superintendent, a new administrative structure and nine (out of 11) new School Board members. Better information is available, better systems are in place. But confidence cannot be legislated. It must be earned. The Virginia Beach school system's new leadership deserves a fiscal year to earn it. Objective data must be collected to determine if the goals of consolidation - cost savings, improved service and improved accountability - can be met. If evaluation proves these can be achieved in that new framework, then, and only then, should the city and the schools move ahead with consolidation in a constitutional and legal manner that will benefit all Virginia Beach citizens. MEMO: Nancy Guy is a member of the Virginia Beach School Board. by CNB