THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010022
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 56 lines
The Virginia Beach School Board is slated to vote today on a resolution rescinding a resolution it passed last February. That resolution committed the school system to consolidation of some of its financial services with the city's.
Today's vote is unfortunate. We urge the board to embrace consolidation.
Under the terms of its Feb. 20 resolution, the School Board agreed to find a way to combine its payroll, accounting, purchasing and accounts payable operations with the city's to do away with duplication and streamline both operations. The deadline for finalizing the agreement was July 1.
That date came and went, and only now is the newly elected School Board confronting the issue: Unfortunately, its solution seems to be to defer any decision for yet another year.
School Board member Nancy Dahlman Guy argues that the cost savings are illusory and that the mechanics of consolidation are more difficult than first thought. She proposed today's resolution, but says she is not philosophically opposed to consolidation: ``If consolidation is a good idea it will still be a good idea next year.''
By such logic, good ideas could be postponed indefinitely.
Consolidation has been under consideration by City Council and School Board for several years. Beginning the process at this late date is hardly rushing into anything. But every year that passes without consolidation sees Virginia Beach taxpayers' dollars being wasted on duplication of effort.
The city makes a persuasive case for consolidation. Doing so would save the taxpayers money and increase the financial accountability of the schools.
Conservative estimates of cost reductions show a net savings of $155,035 in the first year of consolidation, with $1,166,471 saved over five years.
These figures are probably low since they do not factor in salary and benefits savings from attrition. Under the plan, no one would lose his or her job or take a decrease in pay. Over years, however, jobs would be eliminated.
Additional savings would probably come from the joint purchasing of many supplies - even a 2 percent savings would yield an additional $300,000 a year.
City Manager Jim Spore notes that $200,000 to $300,000 in savings annually may not sound like a lot of money in this era of multimillion-dollar budgets, but those funds would be returned to the schools under the agreement with the city.
``That's 10 new teachers a year,'' Spore says.
The decision of how to spend the savings would lie with the School Board, of course, which is charged with setting school policy and improving education in Virginia Beach.
Under Virginia's peculiar system, where elected school boards must ask the city for funding because they have no power to levy taxes, consolidation of financial departments makes sense and represents good government.
Consolidation would allow the School Board to go about the business it does best: setting school policy and overseeing the education of Virginia Beach's estimated 77,000 students.
The School Board should stop procrastinating and begin consolidating. by CNB