THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505120211
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Since we are in the midst of the annual budget fiasco with the usual raving and ranting between school Superintendent Sidney Faucette, the School Board (Faucette's rubber stamp minus VBEA-sponsored Charles Vincent) and City Council and there are more monetary facts, figures, recriminations, fictions and myths flying around than a Cray computer could keep track of, I would like to add my 2 cents' worth to the fray.
City Manager Spore's proposed city budget for fiscal year 1995-96 is $939,183,386 (combined operating/CIP). In his pie chart, he allocates 51.3 percent ($429,893,457) of ops and 36.1 percent ($32,894,990) of CIP to schools, for a total of $462,788,447 million.
I submit that this is budget fiddling; school system costs should be higher. They certainly would be if, as Council Heischober wants, the School Board had taxing authority. I fear that now that he is back on Council, he may sneak this concept through somehow.
In Dr. Faucette's ego-enraged, childish letter to City Manager Jim Spore (Beacon, April 16), he seems to have had help from a 10-year-old student who has not had sufficient school system ``feelings'' courses yet. After reading that letter, I decided to express my appreciation to Mr. Spore: At least we taxpayers have one person fighting the school-system juggernaut which is consuming us. Apparently the only Council member with school-system budget experience is Louisa Strayhorn, a former school board member, if she isn't too embroiled in solving all our humongous minority problems.
Education is often classed with Mom and apple pie, and we skinflint taxpayers are inconsiderate of educators, their profession, their needs and that only they know what is best. But here's what I say: It takes nearly 60 percent of the city's operating budget and 40 percent of the CIP to provide a specialized service (education) for 17 percent of our population (74,000 students) for six hours a day for only 180 days. Meantime, students and the other 83 percent of us (345,000 people) receive only 40 percent of Ops and 60 percent of CIP tax funds for full services (police, fire, roads, street lights, administrative, etc.) 365 days a year 24 hours a day in most cases. Something is out of control somewhere.
As recommended in a previous Beacon letter (Beacon, April 28, 1995) a qualified external audit of the school-system budget fiasco is warranted. As Mr. Spore noted, many of us taxpayers are fed up with $43,000 flagpole purchases, $225,000 atrium entranceways for schools, inadequate ventilation procurements or hog-wallow school-site purchases.
City Council should remember that it takes an awful lot of man/woman work hours to provide each $1 million of tax money. A good close look at the school-system budget-gobbler is certainly war-rant-ed.
H. R. Osborough
Fox Run Summer band in budget; why now charge tuition?
I was shocked when I received a school application form for the Summer Band and Strings program. For the first time, the Virginia Beach school system is charging a $75 tuition per student. What is perplexing is that the Summer Band and Orchestra program is already funded for $46,480. This is found at line item 01300 on page 61 of the schools' Operating Budget. Is it legal to shuffle funds around or use funds designated for a program on something else? I don't believe this would be allowed in other government agencies or the corporate world.
Information printed in the local papers indicate that there appears to be a significant budget shortfall. Is anyone managing the budget? Is there a problem with the school's accounting methods that such significant shortfalls were not detected much sooner? Does this not warrant an audit to identify all budget shortfalls since the public does not have the whole story?
I believe the School Board needs to hold administrators accountable for exceeding their budgets. But, by all means, don't take it out on student programs. I suggest that the School Board rescind the tuition for the Summer Band and Strings program since it has been successful for over 10 years. Instead of getting an education on the streets, 699 kids signed up for this program last year at a cost of $38,620. (according to public records at the Central Library). Give these kids a break! Cancel the tuition now!
Seza B. Greco
Churchill Court by CNB