Mathews Holds Off on WJC Budget; York Schools Go Ahead

Mathews Holds Off on WJC Budget; York Schools Go Ahead

By Amber Lester Saturday, February 20, 2010

Williamsburg-James City County Schools Superintendent Gary Mathews has delayed the planned announcement of his proposed budget.

The proposed budget was scheduled to be shared in a public meeting on Feb. 25. Prior to that, the budget was supposed to be revealed Feb. 16, but was delayed when Gov. Bob McDonnell said he would not support former Gov. Tim Kaine’s plan to halt the planned change to the local composite index. That decision cost WJCC around $2.3 million. Click here to read more.

Since then, the governor has also revealed his proposed cuts, which delayed yet again the announcement of WJCC’s budget. Mathews has estimated WJCC’s shortfall is now about $9.8 million, compared to an estimate of $5 million following Kaine’s proposal in December.

In an e-mail release, Mathews said his decision to delay was based on the recommendation of Al Butler, the executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS). Butler told superintendents across the state to wait for the Department of Education to send detailed information about budget cuts before revealing proposals. The House and Senate must release their proposed budgets by 6 p.m. on Sunday; if all the information is in place, the DOE is expected to send information to school divisions by next Friday.

Butler wrote in his message: “I believe it would be wise to wait until the details of the budgets are released. You may want to postpone final decisions on your local school division budget.”

York County Superintendent Eric Williams released his proposed budget last Thursday. York’s Chief Financial Officer Dennis Jarrett said finance staff will incorporate the cuts suggested by the Governor, House and Senate into the school board’s budget. York County will have a public hearing on the superintendent’s budget at 7 p.m. Monday in the board room in York Hall.

Comments

-1 #7 Guest 2010-02-22 12:59

To Howard:
I hear what you are saying. However, tough times are here. They have been here for more than three years. Some how WJCC turned a blind eye and kept spending. Rather than cut teachers, get the administration out of the office and back in the class room until the tax base comes back. Could be a good experience for all.

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+2 #6 Guest 2010-02-21 19:22

To Chris: I applaud your comments for John. His ideas are diseased, misguided, and cruel. However, I don't fully agree with your ideas regarding school administrators. It is true that most classroom teachers work very hard. However, they may not always be fully up-to-date in their methods and strategies. Central Office leaders who have studied education on more advanced levels therefore play a critical role in keeping teachers sharp and current in their practice. This ensures that the public's valuable financial resources, when given to schools, are being used as best as possible. Additionally, as is the case in any field, there are some teachers who just do not do a good job, either because they lack the skills or because they are being lazy employees. Because of this, it is important to have school leaders to help keep a level of professional accountability in place, addressing and correcting issues generated by ineffective teachers. Again, the goal of this is to be good stewards of the public's funding given for schools. Without Central Office leaders providing direction and accountability, the public would get a lot less for their education dollars, even if school budgets were increased.

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+2 #5 Guest 2010-02-20 23:22

To John who wants to get rid of Kindergarten: are you aware that in Kindergarten they teach kids to read and write now? I know they did not teach that when you and I went, but that's what they do now. So if you don't want your kids to read and write, don't send them to Kindergarten.
Schools exist to teach kids. So I'm all for closing the budget gap by first cutting non-instruction al things such as extracurricular activities and maybe getting rid of some (not all) of the central office administrators who sit in offices with expensive masters and doctorate degrees (which makes their salaries higher) but who do not TEACH CHILDREN, which is what schools are for. What's that saying about the ratio of chiefs to Indians?

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+4 #4 Guest 2010-02-20 21:21

Quoting John:

Do away with free school meals. It is not the taxpayers' responsibility to feed some lazy, irresponsible person's child. That's their responsibility.

While I agree it's their responsibility John, some people simply lack the ability, knowledge or motivation to parent well. Isn't it bad enough that the child is being raised by an irresponsible adult, that they should now be punished for their parent's shortcomings by going hungry? What does that accomplish?

If the world ended tomorrow, I'd prefer to face my maker having erred on the side of feeding hungry kids while we try to get the parent to grow up or to find someone willing and able to take care of the child. You clearly pride yourself on teaching your kids sacrifice and discipline, I hope you didn't neglect to teach them about an equally important principle: compassion. Especially since you may be old and feeble one day, and needing to depend on your kid's compassion for you, so for your sake I pray the seeds you've sown took no purchase.

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+5 #3 Guest 2010-02-20 15:40

We have an awesome school system in our community, we are very fortunate. There are many cuts that may need to be made in this community, but our schools should not be one of them. We need to come up with a way to pay for the shortfall and not drag our children into the current national political debate. I honestly believe our teachers work very hard to help our children learn.. We all are having to do more with less, this debate should recognize that our schools are already doing more with less, and praise the progress made thus far. We will overcome the current situation and i feel our investments should be in those who will be paying for our mistakes today, all our young students.

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+2 #2 Guest 2010-02-20 11:26

ah good old peanut butter and cheerios, that's a nutritious diet right there.

a lot of folks seem to be forgetting that while the governor wants to cut 700 million from schools, he can find more money for police and more money for the film office.

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-6 #1 Guest 2010-02-20 10:10

Want to save money?
Do away with Kindergarten. A lot of us remember when there was no kindergarten. We turned out fine.
Do away with daycare for handicapped kids. It's too expense and no benefit. It denies other kids that can contribute the stuff that will improve our society.
Do away with free school meals. I was a single parent and I made my kids breakfast and packed them a lunch every day. It is not the taxpayers' responsibility to feed some lazy, irresponsible person's child. That's their responsibility.
The lack of sacrifice leads to the spirit of entitlement.
There's peanut butter and Cheerios. It worked for me and my kids.

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