Little criticism of budget at school board meeting

Tom Junk, a regular critic of the education budget who organized the citizen group Concerned Taxpayers of Rappahannock County, was the only member of the audience who spoke out against the budget. Junk said the board should determine the most effective way to spend money and reduce costs as enrollment drops.

Junk also said that some school districts were performing better on the state Standards of Learning tests despite having smaller budgets. He said the board should look to those districts for ideas to boost scores on a smaller budget.

Junk said he was circulating a petition that he intends to send to the General Assembly once he collects 2,500 signatures. He said he wants to keep the pressure on next year if the two school funding bills that are waiting for Governor Kaine's approval are signed into law. The two bills could bring Rappahannock about $250,000 annually, an amount significantly smaller than what county and school officials had originally hoped for.

Jackson District resident Ron Makela spoke up in support of the education funding. He said that not all of the funding is tied to student enrollment, noting heating costs, which would not likely go down even with a smaller student population.

"People need to understand whether we have 900 students or 1,100 students, we have fixed costs," he said.

He said that there may be room for trimming, though.

"Dig in there and try to find some area where we can cut and where we can do a better job," he told the board.

County resident John Diley said that the schools cannot do anything about fixed costs, such as heating, except spread them over a larger number of students.

Diley said he compared the eduction budget to other county budgets and found that school funding had increased no more than many of the other county services.

He said that criticism of the budget has overshadowed the fact that Superintendent Chappell proposed reduced spending for next year.

"I think we really need to look at the whole picture and proactively push the message out there," he said

The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget on March 18.

The school board will consider reducing tuition for out-of-county students.

Gene and Lynne Kritter, who do not live in Rappahannock but who have three children at Rappahannock schools, told the school board that they would not be able to afford to send their kids to Rappahannock if the board increases out-of-county tuition, which the proposed budget calls for.

The Kritters suggested that the schools might attract more students if out-of-county tuition were decreased.

The Kritters pay $25,000 in tuition each year, they said. The couple said they cannot move to Rappahannock because of work, and enrolled their children in the schools because they offered advanced courses.

"This is just a great place," Gene Kritter said.

School board member Wes Mills said the schools would be eligible for greater state funding if the number of students increased. He said the schools might be able to take on more students without putting too much stress on the school system and urged the other members of the school board to come up with a tuition price that might attract more students.

The schools would not advertise to generate interest in enrollment, Rappahannock Superintendent Dr. Robert Chappell said. He thought advertising would be "inappropriate."

Superintendent Chappell said at the board meeting that the school division leadership team, which consists of parents, teachers and administrators from Rappahannock schools, recommended that the board allow Martin Luther King Day to be used to make up days missed because of bad weather. Currently the day is protected as a holiday.

The leadership team recommended that the board allow Martin Luther King Day to be used as a make-up day every other year, alternating with President's Day, according to Chappell.

Chappell recommended that the schools continue to protect Martin Luther King Day as a holiday.

School Board member Aline Johnson said both of the days should be protected as holidays.

Board member Wes Mills said neither of the days should be protected. He said it would be better to make up lost days on either of the holidays than on spring break, which would drive students "bonkers."