Proposal calls for CCPS to cut 79 positions

Class sizes are in jeopardy of increasing in some schools and middle school sports could be a thing of the past if the Culpeper County School Board approves Superintendent Bobbi Johnson’s proposed recommendations to cut 79 positions in an effort to reduce $3.5 million from next year’s operating budget.

The shortfall stems from losses in local and state funding.

Johnson — who stressed Monday’s figures were preliminary — listed 13 teaching positions, 35 paraeducators (general education and library clerks), two administrators, assistant coaches for all high school varsity sports, and 13 permanent substitute positions as just a few proposed positions to cut.

The school division operates on a $72.6 million budget for fiscal year 2010; however, school officials are looking to reduce that figure to $69.1 million for fiscal year 2011.

In her letter to the board, Johnson said the local figure is a “best case scenario” and would require a 4-cent tax increase.

School Board member Bob Beard expressed concern over CCPS employees being able to get the information they need regarding these proposed budget cuts.

“We’ve talked about some pretty horrible things that are going to be upsetting for our employees,” Beard said. “I would like to underscore that we are talking about decisions we have to make. We are not identifying decisions that have been made.”

School Board Chairman George Dasher repeated what he said during last year’s budget crunching sessions.

“Until these numbers are official, we are not identifying any specific person,” he said.

School Board member Elizabeth Hutchins encourages the community to listen and get involved in the ongoing community “Talk About the Budget” work sessions.

“And if they’re not, they are going to be shocked in the end,” Hutchins warned. “Our staff needs to be paying attention to what we’re talking about. Not only so they can understand it, so that they can give us feedback.”

After about an hour of budget deliberations, the board voted to continue cost-saving discussions in closed session.

The School Board usually approves its final budget in March. The Culpeper County Supervisors, the governing board that appropriates county funding, is expected to approve its overall budget about a month later.

Following the budget work session, Jeff Walker, Culpeper County Education Association president, said next year’s fiscal outlook is “very sobering and scary.”

“In an ideal world, we would ask them to preserve the take home pay for employees and if they have to reduce positions to do it through attrition as much as possible,” Walker said. “As educators, it’s important that we keep positive student-teacher ratios.”

In other news
The School Board is trying to resolve two separate construction-related issues at the school division’s two newest schools.

The board agreed to accept the cheaper of two bids to repair the storm water retention pond at Yowell Elementary School, the county’s sixth elementary school.

The board voted 6-0 to authorize Superintendent Bobbi Johnson to negotiate a contract with Samuel James Construction of Culpeper. School Board member Leanne Jenkins was absent.

Samuel James Construction quoted $70,000 to fix the problem, while Caldwell and Santmyer estimates the job at $235,000.

Caldwell and Santmyer completed construction at Yowell Elementary School near the intersection of Yowell Drive and Sperryville Pike during the summer of 2008.

For months, the School Board has been negotiating with its general contractor Caldwell and Santmyer of Berryville and the school’s Pennsylvania-based architect Crabtree and Rohrbaugh & Associates on who’s responsible for fixing the pond.

Board members suggested splitting the cost three ways.

According to School Board Chairman George Dasher, the pond was constructed as part of the general contract. However shortly after the $15 million school was complete, some of the sidewalls of the pond failed and required temporary, emergency repair, Dasher said.

Dasher said a geological-technical engineer assessed the issue and concluded that the cause was an influx of ground water seeping through the sidewalls. An independent mediator concluded that there were “design and construction issues and some unforeseen conditions.”

Hunter Spencer, construction projects manager for CCPS, also updated the board on ongoing control system issues at Eastern View High School, the county’s second high school.