School Budget Slashed?

Hi, all: I've been out of the loop on internal Lo. Co. politics, but I heard some moms talking at Starbucks... They said that members of a certain party (Ahem! I'm too polite tonight to point fingers) on the Lo. Co. Board of Supervisors had GUTTED the school budget for next year. Anyone have any info on this. I remember the reason post on here about house values going up in proportion to school funding. I wonder why members of that un-named party are trying to have our property values plummet?

 

Actually, I read (IIRC) that they increased the school budget by $14 million. However, the $14 million was less than the $17 million that the school board was asking for. Does anyone have more accurate info?

 

LCPS budgets are available on the school website. The proposed changes to the budget are listed there as well. I believe these changes are still proposed at this time.

www.loudoun.k12.va.us

 

I just saw an article in that Loudoun paper we get for free and it sounds like it is all proposed and all of it is bad. Cutting Art and Drama for high school students, cutting computers, cutting full day kindergarden for in need kids, cutting field trips, cutting after school activities totally. Come on. This county cannot be that bad off with their money with the tax(s) they are charging.

 

I agree that schools should get the money they need - and they do need it!

On the issue of our property taxes and increased property values...the trouble is that most counties have a majority of their tax base coming from commercial/industrial/use taxes - look at Loudoun vs. Fairfax. We just don't have the malls, resturaunts and corporate highrises that they do to form that important part of the county tax/revenue base. Yet our population of school age children is skyrocketing. I'm guessing here, but I suspect our base is way too heavily relying on the residents through property taxes and that just doesn't produce enough of a county income to do everything. If you think our property taxes are bad now, I don't want to think about the hike in value and rates that would be needed to put all that money in the budget.

Until the commerical and business ends of Loudoun start pulling thier weight (Can you tell I'm not a fan of the new BoS who just let developers off the hook for contributing to items like schools and roads?!) we aren't going to have enough money to meet our growing needs without the tax burden falling on the residents. Everytime a new strip mall opens and a business moves into the county, I cheer! I'm a HUGE shopping fan, but I try to stay in Loudoun now instead of Tyson's or Fairfax....that's how I justify new shoes to my husband - it's for the good of the Loudoun economy!

 

Let's not be so quick to bash the current BoS... It was the old board that repeatedly forced developers into "by-right" zoning and therefore gave up on proffers that would have benefitted the county and its citizens just for the sake of a few less homes. They also made it darn near impossible for business to open their doors in this county all under the guise of "slow growth". The current Board is trying their best to deal with what they were given and it's going to take a while to unravel this mess.

 

It is not that you are not to polite, it is that your fingers are exhausted from all the pointing in previous threads!

 

Thanks for the info -- I guess it really comes as no surprise that the party in power of the Lo. Co. BoS opposes funding education. I'm sure that it really doesn't surprise anyone else here either because most of the residents in the county voted for them. You get what elect, and residents of Lo. Co. elected to steal from their kids...

 

Ask some of the wealthy western landowners to give some of the money back they got from the previous board of supervisors and give it to the kids.

 

The BOS increased the school budget 16.8%, but that was $14 million less than the School Board was asking for. Originally, the BOS had proposed cutting the School Board's proposed budget by $17 million, but they put $3 million of it back. The total budget for schools that was approved was $462.2 million.

In response, the School Board is looking at where they can cut $14 million from their proposed budget. They included many suggestions(art and drama in HS, class size increases, cut expansions of programs, cut salaries, etc.). They are going to start making the decisions April 13th, so if you take a look at the proposed list http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/news/2003_2004/april/budget.htm and send them suggestions, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

--Joy

 

Hmm... That 3+ million a year in taxes that will be paid by the Broadlands Regional Medical Center would be a nice boost to the county coffers.

 

VW: Typical thread hi-jacking. We can read enough about your radical views on HCA in other threads.

Dutch: I love this statement, "Ask some of the wealthy western landowners to give some of the money back they got from the previous board of supervisors and give it to the kids." I love that idea! I'm sure that they would then say the same for the wealthy residents of Ashburn. Are you willing to kick in some cash, too!?! Personally, I can't believe that we're going to have to pay MORE taxes (remember assessments went up!) AND see our kids suffer!!! You've got to love (no you don't) the policy of theft that this current BoS is pursuing!

 

Chris, I'm talking about the PDR's. Sorry, but I never got a dime. Neither did anyone else who lives in Ashburn.

 

Well, considering that property values have increased in Ashburn over the past year, it's no surprise that assessments have gone up.

What suffering? The school board wanted $14 million than they are getting. $14 million equates to 3% of the total budget. Do you truly belive that a 17% versus 20% increase in the total budget is going to make our kids suffer? Give me a break. Typical liberal gloom and doom.

 

Wick: As evidenced by Bush, the BoS, and your remarks, typical right-wing thinking must be a combination of saddling our kids with unprecedented debt while stealing money from education funding.

 

"As evidenced"? How about that evidence? Where is it? More unsubstantiated gloom and dooming without facts. Different topic, same old song.

 

Also too I heard on the radio today that Loudoun County is the fastest growing county in the US! 31% growth last year!!! And still we have no infrastructure in place to support the growth, i.e. roads and schools, etc... it is going to get ugly and will impact the whole reason most of us moved out here in the first place.

 

Have you seen the latest numbers on the federal budget deficit? If you only listen to Bush and his cronies, I can understand why you might not be aware of the hard data, but thanks to Bush, our kids will spend the rest of their lives digging them out of mounting debt. Thanks to the BOS, they'll be doing that with a whole lot less education. Yippee!

On a personal note, are you so vehemently anti-education because there is a direct correlation between education and political beliefs? Studies have shown that the more education a person has, the more likely that the person is to be moderate to progressive. Maybe you and the BOS are anti-education out of a desire for self-preservation?

Some evidence for your reference:

Progessive States Have Smarter Kids on Average -
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/package.jsp?name=fte/smartstates/smartstates

U.S. National Debt Clock -
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

 

Yes, the School Board had to make some cuts to the budget. Maybe they should have halted construction on their Taj Mahal School Board building here in Broadlands and used that $26,000,000 dollars to build a few schools. There is no logical reason that anyone from the county, both Board of Supervisors or School employees, could give me as to why so much money had to be spend on an OFFICE.

It's sickening that they threaten to cancel all sports, extra cirricular activities, etc before looking at other ways to save money. This is the use of a scare tactic at its worst. Maybe the 6% pay raises would have been a good place to start.
I have 3 kids in the school system here, but I also have concerns about the tax increases.

 

We're talking about Loudoun County, not the federal government. However, regarding the feds, you surely don't expect people to believe that Bush created the national debt, do you? The national debt has been around for a long time and its roots are arguably ground in the maintenance of Medicare and Social Security, which are both Democrat creations and pet projects.

Regarding your "direct correlation," you are more gullable than you sound. One study and, all of the sudden, it's a FACT!!!! By the way, your theory is shot since California (clearly the most "progressive" and largest state in the Union) is a whopping #44. Given the consistent and overwhelming Democrat leaning in past presidential elections, it's probably accurate to say that the majority of "progressive" people in the U.S. live in California. Yet California is only #44 on the list. Interesting.

Personally, I was fortunate enough to have gotten a great education (high school, college, and graduate school) that has enabled me to more-than-sufficiently provide for my family. I am not anti-education, but I am anti-"people who blame everything on Republicans." Education is very important to me, but I fail to see how the BoS's "cutting" of $14 million from a $450 million+ budget is the end of the world. The budget was initially proposed by the school board, and the school board has a vested interest in making their budget as robust as possible (they have their pet projects, too, and given their high education levels from "progressive" states, they are likely spend-happy Democrats). If they don't get a small piece of it, then they'll have to buy less expensive furniture for their their new lavish admin building.

Bottom line -- The schools are getting a 17 percent increase from last year. THERE HAVE BEEN NO CUTS!!!! The $14 million that the BoS rejected was a proposed further increase in the budget, but it was never in the budget. You can't cut something that was never yours in the first place. If you believe otherwise, then everytime you say "no" to a car saleman's or store clerk's sales pitch, you believe that you are returning something that you bought from them.

On the other hand, if the BoS had only allowed a, e.g., 5 percent increase in the budget, I would be upset too. But, in fact, the schools are getting A LOT more money in the new budget compared to last year. I fail to see how that is a bad thing.