Still Cannot Find
Anything To Cut
in The School Budget?
Cited Below is What
We have Found Over the
Last 3-5 Years.
Data That We Will
Share With the K.W.
Citizens in The Coming Weeks.
Country Carrier Ad - Mar 23, 2016
"We won't know what our expenditures are until we know
funding levels" Donald Longest Tuesday 02/23 Joint Meeting.
Translation ----- They will spend every dollar they get
and if that is an intelligent budgeting method using taxpayer
money everyone involved in the process should be ashamed
of themselves.
"We haven't had a raise in 3 of the last 7 years"
www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/workforcedata/salaries/2013-14
Translation --- Unless of course you exclude ---- step
rate increases, ---- salary scale adjustments, ---- offsets,
---- & compression adjustments. Every single one of your
constituents will soon be reading from their mailbox the
following from the link above, pertaining specifically to
King William County Schools (a comparison shows KW that
year was among the most generous of all county school
systems.) Information provided by the Schools themselves .. In
King William all teachers received a salary step increase
plus a salary scale adjustment of 2-4%. In addition the
division increased all salaries to account for the increase
in employee VRS contributions from 1-5%.
Fraudulent language -- exposed for the first time on a large
scale won't allow this linguistic sham to be continued. It
is a travesty that a private civic organization has to expose
this --- while the people we ELECT & PAY to watch over how
our tax dollars are spent cower to the school lobby.
Why in the Power Point Presentation on Tuesday 02/23/16
showing local/state funding levels over the last number of years
was the Federal revenues to the schools excluded?
Anyone ask? Was it a result of perhaps including these numbers
wouldn't have allowed for the intended distortion? Was it because
they would have had to include the $2.7 million in stimulus funds?
Or the $900,000.00 in 2012 of prior years’ reserve fund
that was used? And if as they claim the elimination of 44 positions
(over a period of time) actually happened - why did payroll not
reflect that claim?
"Compensated absences"---I doubt most voters know that this year
King William taxpayers are on the hook for $196,213 ($130,809 due
within 1 year) being spent for textbooks, or school equipment? No,
but to buy back vacation/sick days from school employees. How many
of King William citizens have a benefit like this? How many of them
know they are buying back these unused days at this high of a cost?
You can be assured you will be receiving some phone calls once this
little jewel hits the mailboxes. Let them keep their sick days and
vacation days, of course ------ but stop this ridiculous boondoggle.
Private sector employees are even lucky if they get paid for a sick day.
King William is one of only two County School Systems to have a
"Cyber Security" program, the other being Loudoun County. I
don't recall any announcement of this new program being rolled out.
This in spite of being told year after year, "we are pinching every
penny running on a bare bones budget" ------------ REALLY? Is this
an appropriate high school curriculum program to begin with? What
is it costing, how many students are participating, and in a county
(that isn't Loudoun) a county where taxpayers have been SCREAMING
for relief for years was this a necessity? It isn't a trick question.
What it is, is a slap in the face of King William taxpayers who
have been screaming for years to do something about taxes. Pinching
every penny.....I doubt taxpayers will think so. We are not Loudon
County --- perhaps you might muster the courage to tell the SCHOOL BOARD THAT THEY NEED TO STOP PRETENDING THAT WE ARE.
A "beer budget and a champagne taste" adage
comes to mind.
Cell Phone Use ---- The sheer number of school employees being
provided cell phones is absurd -- the costs (and I have examined
them in detail) makes the Pentagon look frugal.
$11,000 to fertilize a football field? Ask Caroline, King & Queen, Essex,
or any other County with 16,200 citizens if they do this. One particular
school board member "complained" about this privately ....... yet didn't
have the courage to publicly shame the athletic department and expose
this waste. Shame on the B.O.S for funding this nonsense.
Bowling Trips for Bad Boys ---- Who funded this -- where was this buried
in the budget? I doubt King William taxpayers will care about why this
expense was approved. It is just another example of how they will spend
money on "social experiments" with no regard for "who's money they are
spending"
Bean bags & folding lawn chairs ----- a $2500 grant approved by the
School Board (those folks looking out for our tax dollars) Another
example of these cockodoodle education fad ideas that waste hard
working King William taxpayers money
Master Reading Teachers --- Teaching ..... Reading Teachers ...
.. how to teach children how to read? Odd for over a century we used
phonics to teach children to read and they indeed learned. Just
what is this Master reading Teacher costing? Let him/her keep
their job and shift them to one of these "desperately needed open teacher slots", instead of hiring another body for the burgeoning jobs program going on down there.
More teachers? King William student population has been STAGNANT for a decade. Class sizes at the high school approaching 30?
I have it on solid sources that is completely false. Has anyone asked them to validate this claim?
Benefit Cost sharing. Since 76.2% of the schools expenditures are salaries/benefits what scrutiny has been leveled at a cost
sharing comparison to clarify who is getting just what benefits? Are P/T employees getting health insurance? Is the cost of
group life insurance, group disability, group dental, being paid entirely by King William taxpayers? Is it statutorily possible
to ask the folks receiving various forms of public assistance from King William taxpayers to perform 4-6 hours a week of service
at the schools to offset some costs? Asking someone receiving these benefits to contribute/offset SOME SCHOOL COSTS
using some of their idle time isn't unreasonable.
Pulling the wool over King William taxpayers eyes is getting harder to do. King William taxpayers have had to tighten their belts,
why is any taxpayer funded entity not required to do the same? Either recognize the elections meaning or explain when the phone
calls/e-mails/visits begin why the above is allowed to continue.
