Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 16, 1994 TAG: 9408230049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
In its version of the fiscal reporting agreement, the school system would maintain its finance department and give more in-depth money reports to the supervisors.
But in return, the School Board wants $353,000 the supervisors held back as a negotiating lever last spring. And it refuses to waive the right to sue.
"I believe it will pass as is," School Board Chairman Roy Vickers said Tuesday. "In fact, I know it will."
After tonight's meeting, the counterproposal will go back to the Board of Supervisors.
"I feel real confident we'll have something worked out real soon," supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous said Friday.
The school-finance dispute began more than two years ago when Linkous and other supervisors believed they were not being supplied financial information in a timely manner. The supervisors first proposed taking over the schools' finance operations, then offered their version of the fiscal reporting agreement in February as a compromise.
In that version, the supervisors offered to drop the takeover attempt if the School Board agreed to a detailed, 13-point list of rules on finances. The supervisors held back $353,000 - the school finance department's remaining appropriation for the fiscal year that ended June 30 - until the School Board signed the agreement.
But the School Board rejected that proposal in April because its members believed the agreement placed too many limitations on them and added redundant paperwork.
The way the supervisors adopted the agreement - without prior notice, and following a late-night, closed door meeting - also irked School Board members.
"We were having joint meetings and all of a sudden they gave us that proposal," Vickers said. "But I think the Board of Supervisors and the School Board are working well together now."
In March, Linkous told the School Board the fiscal reporting agreement was not a personal attack or a way to control school spending. Instead, he described it as a possible solution that could lead to faster, more accurate budget planning.
Linkous had hoped the School Board would respond by the end of June, but the agreement got buried among other issues and has not been discussed in public for several months.
Staff writer Brian Kelley contributed information for this story.
by CNB