THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220431
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE AND KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 52 lines
A district committee studying the city's proposal for funding the schools says the plan would not provide enough money to maintain services.
In a report to the School Board, the school funding formula committee recommended that the district receive 53.13 percent of all collected tax revenue instead of 53.13 percent of anticipated revenue from six of 14 revenue sources - as the city has proposed.
The School Board reviewed the report at its meeting Tuesday. School and city leaders were scheduled to discuss the subject later in the week.
Providing the division with 53 percent of all taxes collected, the committee reported, would give the schools about $34 million more than the city proposal of $212.9 million for 1997-98.
According to the report, the school division would receive $12.2 million less than needed for next year's operations under the city's current plan.
The report reads, in part, ``This shortfall does not include an anticipated $1.2 million reduction in Federal Impact Aid, or any salary increases for the district's employees.''
A combination of growth, inflation, the opening of two new schools and other factors would push the school division's needs for the city's contribution to a projected $225.2 million for 1997-98, the report says. For this year, the local contribution was $202.1 million.
In a letter sent to the mayor last week, School Board Chairman Robert Hagans said the council's financing proposal would lead to a ``protracted public disagreement.''
The city staff developed a new mechanism for funding the school district without any input from district staff, Hagans wrote, and the council's timetable for approving the plan doesn't allow for enough School Board review.
But most council members Tuesday reiterated their support for the revenue-sharing plan that would allocate 53 percent of most city revenues to the district every year. The council has scheduled a vote for Feb. 4.
``Having an elected School Board with no fiscal autonomy puts both the schools and the city in a very uncomfortable situation,'' council member Louisa M. Strayhorn, a former board member, said. ``You cannot continue this way.''
City money accounts for about 40 percent of the district's annual budget, with the rest coming from the state and federal governments.
The School Board said it would discuss the subject again at its next meeting, Feb. 4, and would ask the council to defer taking action on the proposal for several months. MEMO: Council member Strayhorn will devote her monthly town hall
meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. this evening, to the revenue-sharing
proposal. The meeting, at Kempsville High School, 5194 Chief Trail, is
open to the public.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS