SUFFOLK Schools Superintendent Milton Liverman on Thursday released a $148.4 million budget proposal that he described as a "best-case scenario." That kind of statement suggests that we can expect no more out of him, the door is closed on financial considerations. Can we assume the School Board agrees, they always have. And surely our Council will add or subtract nothing, as is their usual contribution to consideration of the school budget. We can expect an OK from them as well as a sign of relief that the educational situation is in good hands. Maybe all hands are satisfied because of the plan that school board and Council get together at least once each year.
Click here to review Suffolk's Proposed Budget for 2010-2011.
Don't be surprised if "Inside Suffolk" endorses a School Board candidate. One highly qualified to occupy that position. "IS" has often been accused of "talking" a good game but not offering ourselves as candidates for anything. This year we step into the fray, again. You missed an opportunity to elect a qualified, interested, and serious contender, Roger Leonard but that is forgivable in light of the fact that enough voters erred by electing the current President.
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There are many funding questions still unanswered. State and local support have yet to be determined. What is the size of the student population during the next budget cycle? How will the schools return to minimum proficiency levels? The state portion may be the most difficult given the governor's get tough on spending policy. The Suffolk School Board should take a pro-active approach and submit a punch list of rational additional cuts they are prepared to make. In other words not a list like former City Manager Herbert gave to council when the assessment baloon began to burst. It should be a measured and focused plan of additional cuts and/or alternate means to increase funding such as fees for extra-cirricular activities, late bus pick up and drop off, student parking. We also could do without the imbalanced administrator to teacher ratio.
And just who is this possible candidate that IS may be endorsing? Is it one of the incumbents? Is it one of the IS contributors? In what borough does he or she reside? Has this person previously sought public office? Ever won/lost?
The school district budget was released yesterday. Kudos to staff members for ensuring that the proposed budget was released in a timely manner; this provides citizens with time to study the budget before it goes to the School Board for approval.
At this point, Dr. Liverman has presented a budget that reflects a 1.2% decrease from last year – and this causes me some concern. My main concern is that the budget likely will not reflect the actual budget. The budget takes into account the state and federal dollars that won’t be coming to the district next year – at least based on what we know now, but it also assumes level funding from the city. Can we assume that Dr. Liverman and city staff are working together and he is getting the nod that there will be level funding for the district?
This is not the doomsday budget Dr. Liverman warned us of and I guess that is good news, but is this a realistic budget based on local, state, and federal circumstances?
Our candidate for Suffolk School Board is president of a company that provides training and consulting services to schools and school districts in the areas of student assessment, databased school improvement, instructional strategies, and curriculum alignment. As a past winner of two National School Boards Association awards for 100 Best Curriculum Ideas in the country, she continues to design and deliver only the highest-quality training. She has received awards for her work in research and evaluation. In addition to numerous other honors and recognitions, she received a Distinguished Faculty Award from the Center for Global Business and Executive Education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She has taught at the middle school level for Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Public Schools; served as a science specialist at the elementary level for Virginia Beach City Public Schools; served as Director of Research, Evaluation, and Communications for Portsmouth Public Schools; and served as a regional staff development facilitator for the Virginia Department of Education. She earned her doctorate in Urban Services (1988) from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She has been a resident of Suffolk for many years.
I'm sure I know who the "IS" school board candidate is, I've seen two of her four books and read one so far.
One is "Using Data To Improve Student Achievement. The other is "Practical Ideas For Teaching and Assessing The Virginia SOL. Seems like the school system would benefit from her knowledge.
Education” and wisdom are very different things.Adminstrators and teachers are different things.Educators are teachers, and vise or versa.. Adminstrators are academia. Based on that, that is what is running Washington. That is what is running and destroying the country. And you question what is wrong with our schools?
If the candidate is who I think it is (and hope it is), them I am looking forward to a spirted, issues-driven debate in the my borough, the Suffolk Borough.
Currently, we have a nice guy representing us, but competition is healthy for elected officials, and I know that Liverman needs someone to hold him accountable.
This challenger needs to get in the race early, and fly low,fast and under the radar.
Liverman's budget was dead befiore the ink dried on the paper. Now he'll come hat in hand to Mayor Johnson and council for a bigger piece of their budget. One wonders had assessments been calculated accurately to include distressed, liquidated and foreclosure sales would the City Council be in such a bind. Anyway its not their money they're spending, it's ours.
A read of the budget reveals there is far more that can be cut than Uncle Milti is prepared to make. He can't and won't because there is too much at stake for himself. So he panders to the School Board and deftfully applies pressure on council with calls by parents and teachers with the blessing of Skeeter and Whitley. The School Board has become a useless instrument of governance.
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