JCC Leaves Schools $927K Short; Error in Gazette Article

5/15/08

Dear School Supporters,

JCC SUPERVISORS LEAVE SCHOOLS $927,000 SHORT

Due to the 11th hour funding reductions from the James City County Board of Supervisors on a 3-2 vote (which also, by formula, reduces the city's funding level), WJC Schools will need to cut $927,000 from its proposed budget.

Cutting back on the proposed budget is always difficult, but the JCC Supervisors left the schools no other choice because of their decision to shift the costs of the stormwater plan into the general fund to compete with education dollars. This also has the unfortunate effect of having residential taxpayers bear a greater burden of the stormwater costs, rather than commercial interests.

To address this is disappointing development, the superintendent is proposing to reduce the schools' budget as follows:

* Reduction of Teacher and Staff Salary Increase from 4.5% to 4.25% ($223,000);
* Reduction of Bus Allocation ($250,000)--puts WJC on a 20-year bus replacement cycle;
* Reduction of Technology Allocation ($245,348)--slows the infusion of instructional technology into our schools;
* Elimination of a Multicultural Specialist and Data Manager ($153,629);
* Reduction of Health Insurance Budget ($63,823)--employees will pay the same rates as they do now even though the division saw a decrease in health insurance costs.

You may wish to contact the School Board (mailto:schoolboardmembers@wjcc.k12.va.us;mike@supportschoolsnow.org) to provide your input on how the schools' budget should be reduced.

RAISES, NO BONUSES!

Thank you again for speaking out for competitive teacher and staff base salary increases and against "bonuses". The supervisors reported receiving hundreds of emails from citizens and school and county employees! The campaign was extremely effective. Your voices were heard!

ERROR IN GAZETTE, CORRECTION ISSUED

The Virginia Gazette misreported WJC's Capital Improvement Plan vs. York's and issued a correction. In fact, WJC's CIP appropriately reflects the growing division we are and is not out of line with York's.WJC's CIP is $140 million, but $93 million of that is related to new construction due to growing enrollment in WJC. That is why WJC's CIP is still 3 times the size of York's CIP which is $48 million (rather than the $11 million the Gazette reported).

And of the $93 million for new construction, $79 million is for WJC's 9th elementary school and 4th middle school. The other $14 million is for the central office/alternative education facility, 4th high school site, and an aquatic center. ($8 million was included for an aquatic center to stimulate conversation, which it has.)

WJC's CIP should be higher than York's because York has not grown like we have in WJC. Not including PreK, York's enrollment dropped from 12,819 in Sept 2005 to 12,678 in Sept 2006, but it did go back up to 12,748 in Sept 2007--still 71 students under 2005 levels. During that same two year period, WJC picked up 317 students.

LOOKING AHEAD

If we thought this year was bad, just wait until next year.

Next year, hitting a budget target the county tries to set will likely be very difficult. Keeping perspective, rarely has the school division's budget of need hit the county's budget target. It did this year only because of the infusion of state dollars, which won't likely happen next year.That means ADVOCACY will probably be EVEN MORE IMPORTANT next year than it was this year in order to get the schools' budget of need funded.

Thank you again for making your voices heard, and thank you for supporting our schools.

Have a great summer!

Mike Ludwick
Support Schools Now

P.S.: If you like what Support Schools Now is doing, help keep it up and running with a contribution of $50, $25, or even $10. Checks to "Supports Schools Now" can be mailed to 3012 Mossy Creek Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185.