THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602170009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Earlier this week, Virginia Beach City Council wisely put aside its differences with the School Board long enough to give the school system $2.3 million to help make up its projected 1995-1996 deficit.
This amount was just over half what the board sought.
City Council reasoned that $2.3 million was lost to the School Board through federal cutbacks and lower-than-projected sales-tax revenue. The rest of the expected shortfall is due to continued fiscal mismanagement, council said, and refused to allocate the additional $2.1 million the board needs.
This was a smart, measured response by a City Council still fuming over the school system's never-ending financial problems and baffling personnel decisions. Last week the board touched off a maelstrom when it rehired Mordecai Smith, a man who was involved with last year's budget, which came up $12.1 million short.
Now that it has secured some of the funds it needs, the School Board ought to refrain from scare tactics to try to squeeze more money out of the city. Among other things, the board has threatened to cut spring athletics, after-school programs and child care.
Threatening to axe popular programs like sports is an old political trick designed to alarm parents and put pressure on City Council. But the Virginia Beach public is in no mood for such games. If the board is not careful, this could backfire on members come Election Day - should any of the present members decide to run.
One City Council member pointed out that money the School Board might save by scrapping spring sports - $360,000 - could easily be made up by combining the school's print shop with the city's - one of the many elements of consolidation City Council has been urging for 18 months.
We urge the School Board to leave its before- and after-school child-care programs alone. These give working parents reliable, safe, affordable child care at a total cost to the system of just $100,000. We think this is a small price to pay to ensure that children are not going home to empty houses after school. It must be frightening, indeed, for families to contemplate what will happen if schools close immediately after the final bell. Imagine the difficulty of finding places in day-care programs this late in the year.
It's time for the School Board to go back to the drawing board to figure out how it will pare down expenses to keep the system afloat until the end of the year - without trying to frighten parents and shortchange children. by CNB