THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
That odor of scorch coming from Virginia Beach isn't just Princess Anne High School burning down. It's also from some School Board members badly burned by their failure to recognize and repair financial problems that have left the school district $7.4 million in deficit.
That deficit would be higher had some unexpected revenues not come in this year and had the system not ``delayed spending'' severely to ``absorb'' $15 million to $18 million in unbudgeted costs from the past couple of years.
Where there's blame, there's blame-shifting, and it began in earnest Tuesday, at a School Board ``budget workshop'' subtitled ``How did this happen?'' The short answer is: Board members didn't know enough to know what they weren't told, and school administrators either didn't know themselves or for some reason did not tell.
And that, agreed board members Robert Hall and Linn Felt, is where city staff and City Council fell down on the job: City budgeters should have known, they said, that school staff had projected federal impact aid at millions more than Beach schools have ever received or expected to receive. City budgeters should have told City Council, which should have challenged that revenue projection (and others) before approving the school operating funds.
Why did they not? Because, Mr. Hall said to the cheers of board member Van Spiva, the more federal impact aid, the less local revenues the city must commit to the school budget. And isn't it curious, they added, that at the same time the city failed to stop the schools from overspending, city officials were pushing consolidation of city and school recordkeeping?
Curious? It's crucial.
As usual where money is concerned, School Board members want it both ways. Only last May, when longtime rumors of grave budget troubles were beginning to prove true, Mr. Hall was berating City Council for daring to suggest changes in school finance and cuts in the school's budget. Yet Tuesday, Mr. Hall was berating City Council for not saving the School Board from itself, and from school staff's shortcomings. Who's supposed to be more expert on projecting school membership figures, school costs, school revenues? Not city staff.
And if the city figured on saving local funds because of the schools' too-high projection of federal funds, then a dollar to a donut says school officials counted on the city's ponying up the shortfall. In fact, Mr. Hall said Tuesday that ``perhaps (the board's) biggest mistake was not going to City Council and asking for more money.''
In fact, in nine of the past 10 years, the schools have returned money to the city - and the city has voluntarily given it back to schools for capital or other nonrecurring expenses. $xx million worth, above and beyond the city's committed share of the school budget.
Board member Elsie Barnes is among few others to 'fess up: The buck, she said, stops with us. Just not soon enough. Fortunately, the bucks come from City Council, and it's kept a more watchful eye on school spending than the School Board. It all ads up to a good argument to keep it that way: Consolidate city and school financial services and, for Pete's sake, don't give the board taxing authority.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET OVERSPENDING by CNB