Final Loudoun County School Budget

School Board Adopts Fiscal Year 2010 Budget
The Loudoun County School Board adopted its Fiscal Year 2010 Budget during a budget reconciliation meeting on Tuesday, April 13th.
The budget for the 2009-2010 school year will be $732,598,960, less than the current budget of $745,600,922. The cost per pupil of educating a student in Loudoun will drop from $12,780 to $11,997.

The budget was adopted on an 8-1 vote with Bob Ohneiser (Broad Run District) casting the dissenting vote.
The adopted budget means no Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) employee will receive an increase in salary during the next school year. However, as a result of the School Board's action, no LCPS employee will be subject to a reduction in force, furloughs, or salary reductions. All employees who have earned satisfactory evaluations will be issued contracts and appointment letters for next year.

To reconcile the budget, the School Board had to adopt the $15,089,223 in budget cuts contained in Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III's Tier I reductions. These cuts were coupled with the first-time imposition of a $100 fee for participating on an interscholastic sports team and the increase in student parking fees to $200 per year. (For the first time part of the parking fees charged by LCPS' 10 high schools will be contributed toward balancing the school system's budget.)
The cuts and fees, with projected revenues, accepted by the School Board include:

A reduction in school buses/field trips: $367,502.
A delay in the purchase of band uniforms for Park View and Stone Bridge high schools: $100,410.
Elimination of a fuel contingency: $1,355,542.
An increase in health care co-pays and deductibles: $4,106,009.
A reduction in Instruction Department materials: $963,941.
The elimination of Iowa testing in third and eighth grades: $210,862.
A reduction in professional services for construction: $886,625.
The elimination of professional services in land acquisition: $970,969.
The reduction of part-time salaries and materials in the Department of Pupil Services: $564,307.
The reduction of staff development system-wide by $1,142,169.
A $2,409,852 reduction in the amount of money allocated for substitutes.
A system-wide reduction in part-time and overtime pay: $873,571.
A reduction in the acquisition of textbooks: $602,463.
The imposition of fees for participation on athletic teams: $385,000.
An increase in student parking fees: $150,000.
04/14/09/wbb

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Thanks for posting, Fido.

While the information states that no employees will be subject to salary reductions, by significantly increasing health care co-pays and deductibles, they have been hit with a pay cut. I've also heard that teachers will have to pay from their own pocket for the professional development and certification courses and programs they are required to take in order to keep their jobs (LCPS used to cover those costs).

But they still have their jobs, which is the main thing! It could have been worse.

 

I agree it could have been worse. I am sure these were all tough decisions and any decision would "hurt" "someone" and make someone unhappy.

Such is the reality of these types of decisions.

But these are tough times. I think the Supervisors and Boards came up with a plan that is a compromise but still recognizes the reality of the budget.

Wish any cuts were not necessary. But cuts were needed. I am glad I did not have the responsibility to makes these decisions, I am sure they were neither easy nor enjoyable.

 

Yup, Ozgood, I agree. It was a no-win situation.

 

What makes absolutely no sense to me is why the county library does not charge late fees. The revenue collected would have to be enough to offset some cuts.

 

No late fees?? I didn't realize that was the case....I always hustled our books back on time, because I assumed there was a fee, like the library systems charged everywhere else I've lived.

 

You know what? My husband and I often wondered why they don't charge for overdue books!!! Coming from NYS - I thought all libraries did this. You're right - this is lost revenue and why don't they charge late fees. I'd really be interested to know the reason behind this.

 

When I asked about this several years ago, the answer given was that the overhead involved in administering over-due fees didn't pay for itself in collections.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the health care change puts them on par with the rest of the county employees.
(I could be mistaken but I think I read that somewhere)

 

Yes, I think you're right, mwb2218.

 

The library also doesn't try and maintain quiet order either. I was there a few weekends ago and so many people were talking I could hardly concentrate. I made a comment to the library staff and their response was "We have over 300,000 people. We can't be expected to keep them quiet."

 

Several years ago charging for overdue books was considered. It was studied by the Library Board and the professional staff.

The study concluded that the cost to collect the fees would exceed collection revenue. So decision was made to not charge overdue fees because if we did it would cost money. Money they would rather use on books.