|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK Public Hearing on the FY 2008-09 Budget Fairlawn Elementary School The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mr. Bishop in the cafetorium of Fairlawn Elementary School. Present were: Mr. Bishop, Vice Chair Rhodes, Mr. Cook, Mr. Driggers, Dr. McCluney, Dr. Tonelson, and Dr. Wright. Others in attendance were Superintendent Jones, Chief Officer Schmitt, and Senior Director of the Budget Jane Pellegrino and Board Clerk Vincent Rhodes and Deputy Clerk Stocks. Mr. Bishop led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance. Dr. Jones gave opening remarks and announced that the board would hold a second work session on the budget March 13 at 5 p.m. Mr. Schmitt and Mrs. Pellegrino did a brief presentation on the budget. Mr. Cook moved and Mr. Driggers seconded that the resolution below be approved to send to budget conferees of the General Assembly. WHEREAS, the Standards of Quality (SOQ) set the minimum requirements for Virginia to meet its constitutionally defined obligation to maintain “an educational program of high quality” for the children of Virginia; and WHEREAS, the Constitution of Virginia, the Commentaries on the Constitution, and various opinions of the state’s attorney general have held that the state has an obligation to fund education at levels that retain a realistic relationship between state funding and the actual local costs of providing that education; and WHEREAS, the state’s current educational funding formulas are “rebenchmarked” every two years to recognize that the costs to school divisions of offering programs that meet the SOQ change over time due to market forces specific to each locality; and WHEREAS, the state’s current funding methodologies already use various statistical mechanisms to significantly understate the true cost of education to localities, which in turn reduces the state’s funding obligations for education; and WHEREAS, the Virginia Board of Education has regularly recommended changes to the SOQ that would help bring state standards and funding into closer alignment with actual school division best practices, many of which remain unfunded by the state; and WHEREAS, Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) has identified a number of areas in which the state has consistently underfunded the SOQ, most recently in its 2002 Review of Elementary and Secondary School Funding, many of which remain unfunded today; and WHEREAS, to make up for these deficits in state spending, virtually every locality in Virginia spends well above and beyond the minimum set by the SOQ to provide a high quality education entirely at local taxpayer expense; and WHEREAS, Virginia school divisions are held highly accountable by both the state and federal governments for the academic achievement of every child and are subject to sanction if they fail to meet those academic achievement goals; and WHEREAS, a critical component of meeting these achievement goals is the ability to recruit and retain highly qualified school personnel, an ability that is directly affected by prevailing costs and by available resources; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the School Board of the City of Norfolk strongly opposes changes to Virginia’s education funding methodologies that further distance the relationship between what it actually costs a locality to provide an education and how the state funds education; AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the School Board of the City of Norfolk strongly opposes changes to Virginia’s education funding methodologies that shift more of the state’s cost burden of education to local governments and to local taxpayers. The following persons addressed the board:
*Comments provided by speaker The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m. |