School Board chairman Stuart Gibson (Hunter Mill) opened the second day of county budget public hearings Tuesday evening by asking the supervisors to fund the system's proposed $1.6 billion budget "to the fullest extent possible."
In return, Gibson was grilled about the school's Capital Improvement Program (CIP), and why planning for renovations at Woodson High School in Fairfax was seemingly pushed back to 2005 after the supervisors had recommended that the planning begin in the 2002-03 range, with actual construction in 2004.
The school's CIP list is approved by the School Board but is absorbed into the county's capital improvement plan. The supervisors provide the funding, currently at $130 million per year, and can make recommendations for the plan, but the School Board sets the priority of the schools list.
"A number of speakers have raised the issue of Woodson High School," said Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock). “If we increase the capital improvement transfer by $5 million, would that cover the Woodson's planning money?"
An increase in the capital transfer would move Woodson's planning to 2004, said Gibson, since South Lakes High School and nine elementary schools are ahead of Woodson on the priority list.
BESIDES EXPRESSING displeasure in the School Board for not heeding its recommendations about Woodson, the supervisors made it clear that the schools are not going to get everything they are asking for and that it is time to seriously evaluate its budgetary needs.
"This is an annual ritual. This is my eighth budget cycle, and it happens every year," said Supervisor Gerald Connolly (D-Providence). "Richmond falls short, and the superintendent's budget exceeds the county's guidelines for the transfer by a wide margin. Richmond fails, and you come to us to fully fund the schools. … It is not an unthinkable thought to think of some tax relief for our residents."
Supervisor Stuart Mendelsohn (R-Dranesville), a former School Board member, suggested that it was time for the school system to go back to basics by looking at the number of students along with the number of teachers, and build a budget from there.
"It gets hard to explain to the citizens when you have a 2-percent to 3-percent increase in student enrollment and a 12-percent budget increase," Mendelsohn said. "You need to go into more detail as to why these programs are so important. For the superintendent to recommend cutting programs to save $100,000 when we're talking millions of dollars is only doing so to get people to squawk."
TUESDAY NIGHT, the squawking was about staff salaries and Woodson. None of the scheduled 80 speakers, of which fewer than 30 were there to speak to the schools' budget, touted any of the schools system's programs specifically. Several speakers urged the supervisors not to cut the tax rate, in order to fund the various county programs they spoke in support of, and the schools.
"I use many of the county's services. Nearly all of them except the schools," said Alexandria resident Kevin Gaghan. "I'm a product of private schools, and my children are in private schools. I came from a climate with 20 to 30 students in a classroom, and I don't think it had an impact on my education. The teachers, not the buildings, are what make a quality education. I believe that is where our money should go, to the teachers."
Others urged the supervisors to fully fund the schools because not to do so not only would hurt the students but also would have an impact on businesses in the county.
"I have never heard anyone say they moved to Fairfax County for the traffic or roads. I have heard people say they moved here for the excellent work force and the schools," said Birgit Retson, first vice principal at Westfield High School. "Our schools provide that work force. A strong local economy relies on the schools … please hold the tax rate."