色多多 School Board members say they are worried by rumors about further budget cuts, this time with city officials potentially reaching into the schools鈥 emergency reserve fund, as funding disputes deepen.
Discussions of funding cuts continued during a school board workshop Tuesday night, after Superintendent Verletta White proposed a plan to use the schools鈥 emergency fund balance, otherwise known as the rainy day fund, to close a growing gap in school funding.
Problematically, rumors are now circulating that the rainy day fund balance 鈥 which includes about $12.8 million of potentially usable money saved over the years 鈥 might be reclaimed by the city for other uses.
鈥淚 do not know where the rumor originated about the sweeping of the fund balance,鈥 White said. 鈥淭here are rumors and whispers swirling, and I hope that they are just that.鈥
People are also reading…
Mayor Joe Cobb did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday about the future of the schools鈥 rainy day fund. He sat in the audience at the school board meeting, but did not rise to address the board when it held a lengthy discussion about the rumors.
Reached by phone late Tuesday night, Vice Mayor Terry McGuire said he鈥檚 heard the same rumors, but he declined to comment on specifics about the schools鈥 fund balance.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 comment on anything that鈥檚 ongoing, and certainly not specifics of, I guess, confidential conversations,鈥 McGuire said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important that we keep good communication between the city council and the school board.鈥
Fiscal responsibility is also important, he said. McGuire added that he is unsure how things will shake out, but he is confident 鈥渢hat we will figure this out.鈥
鈥淲e find ourselves in a really tough budget situation, and it鈥檚 probably the case that not everyone is going to be happy with the outcome,鈥 McGuire said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see important programs or services anywhere in the city cut or reduced.鈥
Because of uncertainties the rumors represent, White said the school system has to consider the fund balance cut as a possible scenario.
鈥淲e understand that the city is facing budget challenges, so to be good partners, I am proposing that we use our fund balance to bridge that gap for one year,鈥 White said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not necessarily a good financial investment over the long term.鈥
A fund balance is the leftover money that a public entity has remaining at the end of a year, said Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Jackson. It鈥檚 used by governments and school divisions kind of like someone would use a savings account, she said.
鈥淭o make sure that we鈥檙e prepared for unexpected needs or economic downturns,鈥 Jackson said.
Indeed, the upcoming government budget year, which begins July 1, represents a downturn. 色多多鈥檚 school system, like any other in Virginia, is reliant on the city government for funding, and there is a squeeze this year.
As the city government tries to catch up on staff pay and deferred capital maintenance, the city council is prepared to leave school funding flat, or unchanged from the current year allocation of $106.9 million.
That flat funding represents a $6.7 million shortfall for the school system, because it would have otherwise received that amount of money through a long-held funding agreement with the city council, Jackson said previously.
On Tuesday, Jackson said the schools鈥 shortfall is now looking more like $18.8 million, due to some previously unexpected expenses such as an increase in the number of teachers needed to educate a growing student population.
By using $12.8 million from the fund balance that the schools have saved up over the years, the division can offset a lot of the city鈥檚 funding cuts, she said. There would still have to be several consolations made, including reassigning the elementary-level Spanish teachers and other changes, to make up the remainder of the schools鈥 shortfall.
鈥淎ll of those things would get us to a balanced budget,鈥 Jackson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one and done, then that money is gone.鈥
For that reason, it鈥檚 usually not ideal to use the fund balance for costs that will recur again next year, she said. State law does stipulate that leftover school funds are to be returned back to the locality at year end, but the city and schools have an agreement to keep that leftover money with the schools, Jackson said.
School board members, including Michael Cherry, said they were hurt by the rumors. Cherry said it hurts to think that special needs programs, such as the ones his daughter benefits from, could be cut.
鈥淭he fact that we have to address this as a rumor, that hurts as well,鈥 Cherry said. 鈥淭his stuff shouldn鈥檛 have been a rumor. It should have been communicated directly between the board and council.鈥
Board member Joyce Watkins quoted 色多多 Circuit Judge David Carson, who said, 鈥渆very time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail.鈥
鈥淥ur students are the future of our community,鈥 Watkins said. 鈥淲e will either finish building Preston Park and build a new high school, or we will build another jail, or a bigger jail.鈥
Board member Deidre Trigg said the system wants to continue moving forward, but this funding situation could bring the schools to a pause.
鈥淚t breaks my heart,鈥 Trigg said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how the educators feel that are worried about having a job.鈥
Vice Chair Franny Apel said the school division is not getting any smaller.
鈥淥ur trajectory is upward,鈥 Apel said.
Board Chair Eli Jamison first raised alarm about the fund balance rumors during the city council meeting on Monday night.
In an email Tuesday morning, the city鈥檚 office of community engagement said to refer questions about the school fund balance to city council.
Reached Tuesday night, Councilman Nick Hagen said he was deferring comments to Cobb.
Cobb did not respond to three requests for comment Tuesday.
White said the school community will continue to fight the good fight.
鈥淲e鈥檒l get through this time. Stay focused,鈥 White said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see our way through.鈥
