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York Parents to Supes: What Happens to County if Schools Decline?

By Sam Thrift Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The possibility of a $9 million shortfall in the York County Schools budget next year drove parents, students and residents to share their concerns with the York County Board of Supervisors during a budget forum last night.

During the hour-long forum, about 30 York County residents shared their fears about the possible changes the school system may face if proposed budget cuts presented by Superintendent Eric Williams at a school board meeting last week become a reality. The preliminary budget cut proposals for the school board to consider if supervisors agree to contribute an additional $4.6 million include the elimination of 44 teaching positions, 13 teacher assistants and nine full-time custodians. If supervisors won't send more funds to the schools, Williams estimates an additional 65 positions will be cut.

An anticipated decrease in state revenue and a $4.5 million increase in Virginia Retirement System payments for its employees are the main factors in the division's projected shortfall. Read more about Williams' proposals to deal with the budget shortfall by clicking here.

The possibility of a lower standard of education, classroom overcrowding and the loss of teachers were among the concerns mentioned by the speakers at the forum, who wondered what would happen to the county's quality of life as well as their children's quality of education.

Many speakers credited the school system as a significant factor in their decision to live to York County.

Jeff Cooper of the Grafton High School PTSA said, “If people move to York County for the schools, what happens to York County if the schools decline?”

Two parents of children in special education also showed concern about how York County’s current programs may be changed due to budget cuts. One mother showed the supervisors her autistic son's 3rd grade honor roll certificates, saying cuts may alter her child’s future.

Watch the Board of Supervisors meeting by clicking here.

The supervisors will have a joint meeting with the York County School Board to discuss the 2013 budget on Feb. 21.

Comments  

 
-1 #14 walt 2012-01-20 21:51
I love the claims that you folks make about people coming to York for the schools and that the loss of that will reduce property values. Hogwash! Only 30% of county households have school age children. It is safe to say that the majority of county residents live here for reasons other then the schools. It is also safe to say that many of the 70% are tired of their taxes going up every two years because of unfettered spending by school as well as county administrations . Losing a few disgruntled families who don't care about their fellow citizens will do nothing to hurt property values. Where you going to go? heh heh. Even with their budget cut by millions, York schools will always be better then most in the state. Every school system faces these same problems.

This is the year to bring the school and the county into line on spending. We have no choice. Revenues are down and adding more tax burden to already strapped citizens is not an option. During their campaigns, Supervisors promised to not raise the tax rate. Those of us who still have an ounce of commonsense, need to make certain that they keep their promise.
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-1 #13 KJG 2012-01-20 16:41
Quoting Hopley Yeaton:
The refinery paid a lot of bills. The goose that laid the golden egg is dead. The shortfall needs to be made up from the property owners. I agree that the quality of schools has an impact on property values. For those that have posted below, are you prepared to pay higher taxes to maintain what you have? If not, then the only other solution would be to reduce the costs to run the schools. I believe it is possible to have a high quality educational system for less than what it is costing us today.


As a community, York County residents have to decide what is best for the county i the long term. It does no good to slash the school programs as it is one of the deciding factors for families moving into the area. As far as the comments about people moving in just for the good schools and then leaving without contributing to the community...rea lly???? The typical school duration is 13 years. I challenge you to find ANYBODY who lives in a community for 13 years who contributes NOTHING. If the schools are allowed to become "average", home value levels will follow shortly thereafter, which the will eventually reduce the tax rates, further reducing the revenues. It is a slippery slope the BoS are ventuing down. As a York County resident, what are YOU willing to sacrifice to keep our county the excellent place to raise and educate our youth??? Cable TV? Your BMW? That fancy "Smart Phone" with ist's $40.00/month data plan? Prioritize, economize and realize the possibilities.. .I challange you all!
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+1 #12 walt 2012-01-20 10:06
If that $220,000 was being spent in York County, we wouldn't have so many small businesses closing. When was the last time you bought clothes from a York business? How many of you run to the BX to make your purchases? Do you buy your gas from a county station? The only way that $12222.00 per child per year is going to benefit York is if you spend every dollar of it in the county and we derive sales tax from it. Obviously, that isn't happening. If it was, our business tax would support our needs and real estate taxes would be low. They don't even come close.

Again, you move in here long enough to get your kids educated and then move out to a county with less taxes. You got yours, why should you pay for your neighbor's child?
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0 #11 Concerned 2012-01-18 21:29
Quoting walt:
So basically, you move-ins just come to York to take advantage of our schools. You contribute nothing to our county other then the taxes that you pay on the over priced house you bought. .


If you really believe that the only contribution made is the taxes paid on property, then you must not know about the community that is built around a neighborhood school, the service hours that students put in to their communities, let alone the positive financial impact of raising children in a chosen community. According to the USDA, in 2009, the average cost to raise a child is over $220,000, not including college. Where do you think that money is spent when the "move-ins" come?
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-1 #10 Concerned 2012-01-18 20:33
If the Board of Supervisors is so short-sided that they do not see the vital need to raise taxes to pay for this budgetary shortfall, then I hope the public has a bit of a longer view and can vote them all out of office in the next cycle.

The Commonwealth determines how much each County can pay based on a variety of factors (LCI) and currently, 2.2 million of the 9 million deficit is caused by a discrepancy between what the County is paying and what Virginia calculates that it SHOULD be paying. At the very least, the first 2.2 million of the requested 4.5 million should be funded.

If the citizens of York County value their schools, I urge them to become informed about this issue and contact both the Board of Supervisors and the General Assembly.

Underfunding schools does not only hurt students and their families; a top notch school division is why the property values in YC remain high. If you want to see what your home will be worth after the Board of Supervisors DON'T take action to fund the schools, look at a comparably sized home in Newport News or Hampton.

Also, to those who may believe that YCSD should prioritize cutting at the central office, I invite them to view the disproportionat e number of cuts that have been made to central office staff in the last 3 fiscal years. Schools require excellent leadership in addition to excellent classroom teachers and the SBO has taken the brunt of the cuts in the last few years.
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+5 #9 Hopley Yeaton 2012-01-18 18:59
The refinery paid a lot of bills. The goose that laid the golden egg is dead. The shortfall needs to be made up from the property owners. I agree that the quality of schools has an impact on property values. For those that have posted below, are you prepared to pay higher taxes to maintain what you have? If not, then the only other solution would be to reduce the costs to run the schools. I believe it is possible to have a high quality educational system for less than what it is costing us today.
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-1 #8 walt 2012-01-18 18:49
So basically, you move-ins just come to York to take advantage of our schools. You contribute nothing to our county other then the taxes that you pay on the over priced house you bought. Once your kids are educated at my expense, you sell your overpriced house to another family who just wants to take advantage of our schools. You don't care how high taxes have to go because you aren't sticking around, anyway. As long as you get what you want, to hell with those of us who make York our lifelong home.
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+3 #7 Geese & golden eggs 2012-01-18 17:24
For what it is worth, my young family lives in JCC and we discuss whether to move to York County for the schools. Every other issue we consider points elsewhere.

For residential property values, one can compare a good school system to the value of a good anchor tenant to a shopping center.
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+4 #6 Martin Cardwell 2012-01-18 15:05
Just for the record, the County's funding provided to the school system has grown 19.4% more than inflation since FY03.

FY03 $37.7M (or $46.4M in FY12 dollars)
FY12 $55.4M

To offset that increase somewhat has been a decline in State support and of course the famous "mandates without funding".
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+1 #5 Albert Brooks 2012-01-18 14:48
Quoting walt:
If the schools were the driving factor, then property values would not have dropped as much as they have. Only 30% of county households have children in the school system.


==Reducing demand for a given market by 30% (when only those with children look elsewhere) will almost certainly negatively impact the resale price of properties held by the other 70%.

Quoting walt:
We have to stop funding every whim that Eric Williams and his cronies come up with.


==I believe that school funding has remained relatively flat over the past 3 years - a credit to our BOS's support AND Williams and his staff being good stewards of our tax money. York County pays less per student than any other municipality or County in the area.


Quoting walt:
They also need to...better control the waste that the school board has become famous for.


==I could not disagree more. I can understand a difference of opinions about priorities, but "waste" is not something I associate with the YCSD, much less feel is it something they are famous for.
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