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Our View
Budget battles
How does it affect the children?
The School Board handed a budget to the Board
of Supervisors that had passed through a rigorous
internal and public review process. The net result of this process was a budget that included a local contribution that rose some 4.3 percent over last year’s. The lion’s share of the local contribution increase can be attributed to but a few major items: the Commonwealth-mandated teacher salary increase of 3.54 percent and the School Board’s decision to provide the same level of increase to other staff; the high school bond payment; high school roof repairs; and schools maintenance projects.
The Board of Supervisors said yes to all but $128,000 of the proposed $7.8 million budget, an amount that equates to some $35 in additional taxes, if needed, for a $150,000 property. The Board of Supervisors also stressed the importance of roof repairs for the high school, coincidentally budgeted at $125,000. The School Board’s response was to reconcile the cut by eliminating the high school roof repairs.
What gives? Are our School Board members and Supervisors simply playing politics at the expense of the school children? Has the School Board “struck back” by killing the Supervisor’s high priority in an attempt to reverse the funding cut? Are the Supervisors “getting even” for school budgets that have risen sharply over the past years or being overly sensitive to the prospect of tax increases in an election year?
There is probably some truth to all, but Rappahannock should be pleased and proud of the dialogue and the arguments from both sides. The county has been blessed with hard-working and wellmeaning representatives in both the School Board and the Board of Supervisors, and all representatives appear faithful to their constituents and, especially, to the county’s children.
There should always be arguments, the School Board is tasked with seeking the best and most costeffective education for the county’s children. The Supervisors for the effective and effi
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