Schools Chief: 'No Great Bells And Whistles' For New Year

Arlington County School Superintendent Robert G. Smith has proposed a $410 million budget for fiscal 2008 that includes money for taking over the operation of Head Start classes, the expansion of a foreign language pilot program for elementary schools, a beefing up of school security and a 2 percent raise for all staff.

Smith said the budget contains "no great bells and whistles, no new flashy initiatives. By and large it contains extensions and enhancements of programs that were [already] underway."

The proposed budget, for the fiscal year that begins July 1, represents a 4 percent increase over the one adopted by the Arlington School Board last year, a smaller increase than in recent years when budgets have increased by about 8 percent.

"County tax revenues are not growing at the rates experienced in recent years because of expected stabilization in the area's real estate market," Smith said, adding that the county had alerted the school system early on that this year's budget would be tight.

Still, Smith's proposed budget does contain some new initiatives, including $1.9 million for the Head Start program, which the school system bid to take over after the nonprofit organization that ran it for years was closed last year amid revelations of accounting lapses. The program also would use $2 million a year in federal funds.

Another major expenditure would be $5.2 million for the 2 percent pay raise that all employees would receive in addition to any cost-of-living increases for which they are eligible. School officials in jurisdictions with increasing property values, such as Arlington and Alexandria, argue that such salary adjustments are necessary to prevent teachers from leaving for suburban districts that offer higher pay and more affordable housing.

Smith has also proposed allocating $445,000 for increased surveillance at schools, including adding cameras and increasing the monitoring of visitors. He said the initiative was the result of concerns about incidents that have occurred around the country.

"What we're looking for is a reasonable balance between having the schools continue to be welcoming places and assuring that we know who's in the building and who's coming and going," he said.

A Spanish language instruction pilot program that started this year in two elementary schools would also get about $300,000 to expand to one or two additional schools.

Rather than require schools to find additional funding for the new programs, Smith said, many of the new initiatives would use money redirected from other areas. Cuts in the proposed budget include the elimination of a warehouse that holds school supplies, which would save the district $750,000, and a reduction of 1 1/2 positions in central administration, which would save about $100,000.

The School Board will schedule public hearings on the budget in March and April before adopting a final budget on May 3.

School Board Chairman Libby Garvey applauded the proposed budget, saying that it fit in well with the district's strategic plan.

"I'm really pleased to see the number of reductions," she sad. "It's a good budget that pulls together the good things that we're doing."

Smith's budget presentation also included a summary of Arlington's Standards of Learning (SOL) scores, which dropped slightly this year after rising for eight years.

Smith said the dip was a result of new math tests administered to sixth- and seventh- graders, which had brought down SOL scores statewide, and he emphasized the long-term upward trend.

Still, he said, the drop affected annual progress results for the schools where the tests were administered.

"I think it caused all our middle schools not to make it," he said, adding that the lower test scores would not affect accreditation this year, because it takes more than one year of missing federal benchmarks under the No Child Left Behind law for a school to lose accreditation. Currently, 21 of the district's 30 schools are accredited.