Schools' budget news not all bad

Orange County Schools faced a $6 million budget shortfall. More than 80 employees were told they'd be out of a job. Sweeping cuts eliminated everything from field trip funding to athletic funding. Last Sunday, when the General Assembly passed its budget (which still awaits Governor Bob McDonnell's signature) Orange County Schools finally got some good news.
In order to bridge a $4 billion shortfall, the General Assembly passed a two-year $82 billion budget that cuts spending on education, health care and public safety. The budget, passed 34-6 in the senate and 73-23 in the house, makes a $253 million cut in K-12 public education over the next two years but rejects an additional $400 million in cuts proposed by the House of Delegates.
According to Orange County School Superintendent Dr. Bob Grimesey, the budget is not as bad as it could have been. Instead of covering a $4.6 million decrease in state funding, the schools are now faced with only a $2.8 million decrease. When added with fixed and essential cost increases, the schools are looking at a potential $4.2 million shortfall, more than $2 million less what it could have been.
"Given our budget had to presented in February, it was a very real scenario that [state funding] could have been twice as bad," Grimesey said. "We also had to maintain a realistic grasp on the county budget."
He said so far, the county has demonstrated a genuine commitment to maintaining level funding for the schools.
"We're grateful for the work they've done," he said.
Overall, the changes in the budget may allow some of the eliminated positions to be recalled. Grimesey estimates that based on final budget numbers, approximately 30 jobs could be recalled. However, that could change. The school board will look at this during a worksession Tuesday.
Back in February, when Grimesey presented his budget, Orange County Schools could have faced a $6 million shortfall. In an effort to prepare for the worst-case scenario, four levels of reductions were arranged in a way to cover a variety of funding scenarios. Group one consists of reductions that will cover the $4 million shortfall in funding from the state including the elimination of 53 full-time and one part-time position.
It does not cover any further revenue reductions from the state and is based on receiving the same amount of funding from the county as last year. Should a further reduction come at the state level and/or local level, groups two through four would be enacted in addition to group one, depending on the severity of the funding shortfall. These groups would bring the total number of eliminated positions to 81 full-time and one part-time position plus the elimination of the school board's contribution to athletics.
Grimesey said the final cuts are likely to fall within the group three reductions. However, it's still unknown which jobs may be cut and which will be saved because school board members have rearranged several items in the groups.
Regardless, Grimesey said he is proud of how Orange County citizens have come together during the budget crisis, especially with the successful rally held last month in Richmond.
"Anytime I see grassroots involvement in the civic process, I am proud to be an American," he said. "The rally demonstrated citizens coming together on behalf of children. I think the psychological benefit is bigger than the budget benefit. I am proud of how [people] have come together during this process and have been positively involved in the civic process."
The Orange County School Board will meet in a budget worksession Tuesday, March 30 to discuss more concrete budget information, including athletics. The final budget is expected to be approved in May.