Montgomery County School Board agrees to leave vacancies open, charge athletics fee
A proposed two-day furlough for employees was dropped, slots in the Governor’s School were restored, and assistant principals were kept at middle and elementary schools, with the biggest part of the tradeoff being that 25 full-time equivalent positions will stay empty. There will also be a $100 fee for students to participate in sports and some other extracurricular activities.
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Finally some common sense and levity. The Board was bound to upset some group of folks with their difficult decisions, but thank goodness they found ways to lessen the blow to educators. Now, if only they hadn’t folded like a cheap suit in the face of whining from the Riner “community” and the HAE folk…I listened to those Riner people, and I must say that if all that’s holding their community together is the fact that some of their kids go to the same school, they are doing something wrong out there.
Comment by E William — May 16, 2012 @ 3:56 pm
Leaving vacancies vacant and restoring some of the Governor’s School are great but the article doesn’t mention the 6 Library aides and other ISS employees losing their jobs as a result. Need to report the entire story. There is a lot of fallout to a lot of families.
Comment by Larry — May 17, 2012 @ 6:44 pm
That was the most painful budget process to watch. The board members were not fully informed of what all each line item paid for (How many times did they ask what the “field trip” entry covered? Why did they not get a listing of what trips had been paid for so far this year? They approve paying bills at each meeting, can’t they make a connection between that and the budget? Fail!). Some board members were also clueless about what some line items covered or just what activities some grades are or aren’t involved in. Seriously? A board member had to ask what are the VHSL covered sports/activities? Shouldn’t an informed SB member be up on something like that? Shouldn’t an informed SB member know that “band” isn’t an after-school activity in 8th grade? Then there is the whole Shawsville question — why is any discussion of closing the middle school passed over so quickly without batting an eye? Why won’t the RT touch that question with a 10-foot pole? Is there something sacred about the valley?
I’ll bet if the question were asked of the superintendent, she could not give a good, hard figure of just how much the athletic program costs the school system, yet she (actually, her staff) was able to conjure up the $100/$72 thousand-some figures for “pay to play” (which I can get behind). But was the expense of heat and light for the locker rooms and gym for practices factored in? How about the cost of utilities (electricity, water, sewer) for a Friday night football game for the field lights, locker rooms, concession stands, rest rooms, and parking lots? Then there is extra staff time for the AD, custodians, and others for these events. Coaches’ salaries? Uniforms, plus cleaning expenses each week? Insurance? Equipment costs? Since there is no line-item budget posted on the school web site, just broad category listings, there is no way for the public to gather these numbers.
Interesting that the teachers were offered up to be thrown under the bus, but no one in the central office in a show of solidarity thought to accept a cut in pay to help ease the pain, like past superintendents. I wonder how soon it will be before there is a new search going on to find yet another leader, after Ms. Blackburn sees the end of her contract and decides that retirement is a good option and the board doesn’t see its way to persuade her to stick around for a few more years.
Comment by Joe Hokie — May 18, 2012 @ 11:55 am
Really? Those furloughs were a GREAT idea. As was getting rid of assistant principals. Know what I remember about my assistant principal at Auburn? He walked around a lot. People called him Bob. He always looked angry. He threatened to hit people with this big paddle he had with holes in it. He taught art (I think). Other than that … he did nothing.
E. William – I listened to those Blacksburg people and if all they have holding their community together is their holier-than-thou attitudes, they need to secede and become the City of Blacksburg. That way they can support their own schools.
Comment by Elle — May 18, 2012 @ 12:40 pm
Nice try Elle. Your anecdotal story about Bob and the inference you draw from it (that all Administrators are worthless) is as sad as it is ridiculous.
Your comment about B’burg folk isn’t based on any factual evidence; mine was based on the long line of Riner Whiners claiming that if their students got temporarily moved that it would “devastate” their community.
There has been and continues to be discussion of Blacksburg becoming it’s own city, much like Radford. For your sake, you better hope that doesn’t come to pass.
Comment by e william — May 21, 2012 @ 12:39 pm