Friday, February 27, 2009
Editorial: Low on funds, not commitment
The Roanoke school board's decision to close two schools is just one of many tough decisions.
From the RoundTable blog
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Ordinarily, when a school board makes a wrenching decision to close two schools and bus children elsewhere, the hard part is over. Ordinarily, there is time to exhale. Time to allow stirred-up emotions to ebb. Time to provide educators the opportunity to develop and put in place the best plan to deal with the upheaval.
These are not ordinary times.
The Roanoke school board's decision Tuesday to close Raleigh Court Elementary and William Ruffner Middle School is just one in a series of tough, emotional decisions to be made in the next few weeks.
Closing the two schools will save about $3 million -- ordinarily, a huge sum, but when a budget is $16 million out of balance, it gets you less than 20 percent of the way there.
The board and administrators already have made tough calls on about $6 million worth of changes that will downsize administration and support staff, freeze wages, increase classroom sizes and eliminate the 3-year-old preschool and swimming programs.
Those, like the school closures, will not be enough.
There are three glimmers of hope that the bottom line will improve:
n Instead of cutting millions in funding for the schools, city council plans to trim its own budget and hopefully find at least $3 million in additional money for schools.
n There is some speculation that the federal stimulus could directly offset targeted expenses. Which costs would qualify and how much money might result remain unknown.
n Indirectly, the federal stimulus funds to the state are expected to lessen the deep cuts anticipated for public education. But lawmakers are still working on the state's budget, so how big a hit Roanoke will take also remains unknown.
Even if all three come through, the school's budget most likely will still not be balanced without additional tough choices. In the school system's favor are an administration and board committed to do the least harm to students and, particularly encouraging, a public that has taken the time to educate itself and, for the most part, offer constructive, rather than destructive, comments.
Many unavoidable wrenching decisions, including redrawing attendance zones, are still to come. If they are handled in the same manner, Roanoke will recover.
