THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511250066
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Beth Barber
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
What we have here, evidenced by the documents reprinted on this and the facing pages, is a failure to communicate.
Clearly City Council, School Board and their respective staffs have seldom talked seriously about consolidation of city and school financial rec-ord-keeping. City and school staff are meeting on many topics of mutual interest and mutual benefit. But on ``consolidation,'' the top people involved are talking only when they have to, and even then at rather than with each other.
It's time to break that impasse, and it's time schools took the initiative. In his letter reprinted on this page (1), School Board member Joe Taylor chides Council for having provided him ``nothing'' about consolidation since the board approved a serious look at it Sept. 5. But where during all that time was the ``conciliatory, collaborative teamwork'' from the School Board side?
No question, schools are chary of intrusions on their customary turf. But in informal conversations and in the Concept Paper (2) reprinted on these pages today, the city has not proposed to intrude on schools' policy-making, revenue-projecting, line-item budgeting duties. What the city proposes for discussion and revision, and what the board acknowledged Nov. 21 in a statement (3) reprinted on the opposite page, is this: a system of financial rec-ord-keeping that would cost the taxpayer less and, simultaneously, produce a more comprehensible and trustworthy accounting of school income and outgo.
Trustworthy school accounting is not just a matter of trustworthy hirees and overseers. Throughout the Fau-cette years, schools had expert financial people whose very expertise cost them their jobs. Faucette's boards had members whose good intentions and personal integrity didn't forestall or detect this mess.
There may be better ways to get administrators and board members unlikely to be putty in a superintendent's hands, but do the doable now: ``Checks and balances'' doesn't mean the city writes the checks for the schools' outstanding balances. $350 million in tax oughtn't be putty in anybody's hands. And starting tomorrow, schools and city could design a system that prevents just that. > by CNB