The Loudoun County Public Schools are counting on the Board of Supervisors to keep a $2 million promise made during the budget season, when the schools had to cut $12 million from its budget.
The supervisors, taking advantage of a real estate market ripe with dropping interest rates, refinanced the County Government Building and pocketed $4 million. The school system is expected to be the beneficiary of half of that.
"By refinancing the County Government Building we saved a little over $4 million total. But we can only recover what is equivalent to the first year's payment. We're getting $1.7 million," said Supervisor Jim Burton (Mercer), chair of the finance/government service committee. "I'm asking to make it an even $2 million for the schools. We made a promise we would pass it on to them."
Burton said at this point, it was "just a matter of going through the motions" before the school system has its additional funds.
THE SCHOOL BOARD, however, has already decided what to do with at least a portion of the funding, all contingent on a favorable vote from the supervisors to appropriate the funds to the schools.
Last Tuesday, the board voted to hire 10 teaching positions, totaling $606,520; to hire one maintenance worker, totaling $38,078; hire one school psychologist, totaling $74,140; restore the expansion the Parent Liaison Program, totaling $87,905; and restore the tuition reimbursement program, totaling $150,000. In all, the board's actions spent $956,643 of the newly gained funds.
"The positions will be hired as needed. The intent is to put the money in a holding account to see how the summer goes," said Sue Hurd, assistant superintendent for business and finance for the school system. "The balance is for whatever the School Board deems necessary."
Hurd said even though the expenditure has been approved, pending the supervisor's vote, the positions will not necessarily all be filled immediately. Instead, the appropriation is based on early projections for enrollment and the number of actual hires can turn out to be less than anticipated.
"We're in the process of hiring teachers now and we're down to a reserve of six teachers, which is unheard of for us," Hurd said. "So far, all indications are that we will have a higher enrollment over last year."
Burton said he expected the supervisors to vote on the $2 million appropriation at the board's next meeting.