If not for the issue of what to do about Math Investigations, this would have been a short meeting. As it was, the Prince William County School Board remained in session until nearly 1 AM in the morning. Considering that the board started meeting at 6PM in the evening, these fine citizens put in a day’s work just attending to their meetings.
When people feel like complaining about the School Board, they should step back and put things in perspective. School Board members are largely volunteers. With little staff and a dinky salary, the primary satisfaction these people get out of working on the School Board is what they do for our children.
Blessing
Pastor Fred Parish of Bethel United Methodist Church, Woodbridge, VA, provided the blessing. On behalf of our county’s children, Pastor Parish asked the Lord to bless the work of the School Board and the school staff. After his blessing, he complimented the School Board on the new administration building. This was the board’s first meeting in the building.
Closed Session
The School Board began the meeting approving items discussed in their closed session. That included a disciplinary action. The board voted to approve the Division Superintendent’s recommendation to petition the Virginia Board of Education for revocation of the license of an unnamed employee (required by law to protect the employee’s privacy).
Consent Agenda
The Consent Agenda included a couple of items worth noting.
- The approval of the December 2008 payrolls in the amount of $44,109,289.48.
- The approval of the expulsion of a number of students (Disciplinary Committee Minutes, January 14, 2009).
- The Confirmation of School Board Poll of January 12 Concerning Legislative Matters. This involves reviewing a large number of bills before the General Assembly.
Citizen Comments
Citizen comments pertained to an information item on the agenda, Opt In Option for Traditional Math in Elementary Schools (Johns). This subject will be discussed separately in the next post.
Agreement to Establish and Operate a Regional Academic Year Governor’s School
The School Board received an information briefing on a draft agreement with the School Boards of Manassas City and Manassas Park City to establish and operate a Regional Academic Year Governor’s School. This is a legal requirement that did not obligate any funds. The funding decision is expected in fiscal year 2010 and the school will start operating in fiscal year 2011. According to Dr. Otaigbe, the School Board’s lead in this matter, George Mason University has agreed to allow the school to use its facilities.
The School Board received a briefing on the FY 2009 budget. The good news is that the school division’s financial people project a FY 2009 balance of over $18 million. The bad news is that they anticipate using this money to make up for revenue shortfalls in FY 2010. Finance recommended using the funds for one-time expenses such as new buses and building maintenance. Since the board will know its FY 2010 in about twelve weeks, some expressed wariness with committing these funds early. Finance said much of the $18 million would need to be committed soon for a timely completion of the necessary contracts. The contracts need to be completed when the buses and the building maintenance are needed.
PWCS Information vs. Neighboring Jurisdictions
Whenever the budget comes up, the PWC school division staff always includes a briefing comparing the PWC school division with other NorthernVirginia jurisdictions. The subject is Pupil/Teacher Ratio, Cost per Pupil, Teacher Salary, and Teacher Contract Length. Here are the raw numbers. The numbers come from the Washington Area Boards of Education.
Naturally, as one gets closer to D. C., cost go up. So some board members questioned these numbers. Betty Covington noted that PWCS teachers have competitive benefits that make up for the salary differences, and Johns asked for more information on how PWCS compares with Fauquier and Stafford counties. Nonetheless, Ramirez asked citizens to lobby their legislators and board members for more money.
The Cartoons
When it comes to funding, the education community has a message they want us to get.
However, there is also a message that and taxpayers want the educators to get.
I truly hope the schools choose the opt-in. Choices are always good, and this choice would not only show parents have a voice in the way their children are taught, they can help their children learn the same way they learned, a way they are familiar with.
I’ll wait for his next post to comment in detail; board members basically volunteer their time but that doesn’t give them the right to rip into parents with genuine concerns and write them off as getting in the way.
The school board represents the electorate and should be protecting us from over-zealous school officials.