Thread by @socialistdogmom

i missed the city school board budget work session last week when my vertebrae were in open revolt & i couldn't get out of bed, but i bet you they'll be going over most of the same information tonight when they approve the 2019-20 operating budget.

they'll also be approving an interim replacement member. amy laufer, who narrowly lost her bid for a cville city council seat in 2017, resigned from the city school board last month to move to the county so she could run for state senate in the 17th district.

not much else on the agenda tonight and not many people here. no takers for public comment. launching right into budget talk and powerpoint.

half a million dollars in cuts from the last proposal

69% of the city school board’s budget is for compensation, which includes bringing all school employees up to a minimum of $15/hour. nice, indeed.

sherry kraft asks about the $75k for security improvements that were among the cuts - without that local allocation, the district would be ineligible for a $250k grant. these funds would be for access control (automatic locking of doors)

dr atkins says if they do get the grant they will come back to board to request the funding. she assures kraft the issue isn’t being neglected.

dr atkins has several times reiterated the importance of prioritizing the living wage in this budget.

james bryant is dismayed to see the positions for a new AVID teacher and a new math teacher among the cuts. kraft agrees. they both say it’s important to look at these positions as part of bringing greater equity to the schools.

the $15k for restructuring the new teacher mentoring program is also among the cuts. bryant says this is a mistake.
chairperson jennifer mckeever says all of the cuts are unfortunate - the original proposal was carefully written to best support staff & students.

and the budget is unanimously approved by the board. now on to the appointment of an interim replacement for amy laufer’s empty seat. juan wade says there were three great candidates and nominates former member ned michie.

michie preciously served on this board from 2004-2017. he did not run again in 2017. for this interim position, they specifically looked for people who had served before and would not be running this year.

chairperson mckeever said she hopes anyone who runs in the future will serve their entire term. she’s smiling but it sounds like she may be unhappy about laufer’s decision to resign in order to run for a higher office in another locality.

ned michie’s appointment is unanimously approved. and we’re on to announcements & notice of upcoming meetings... and then we’re done. that was quick!

juan wade reminds everyone that the grace tinsley scholarship bash will be saturday night at carver rec center & we are assured that seeing him do the electric slide is worth the price of admission.
and with that, meeting adjourned.