Crozet residents urge school position retention

Three of the five county residents who spoke at a public hearing Thursday on the Albemarle County Schools’ 2012-13 funding request urged the School Board to keep an initiative in the request that would maintain a full-time librarian and guidance counselor at Crozet Elementary.

The speakers also called for a redistricting in Crozet, to help even student populations between Brownsville and Crozet elementaries. Crozet parent Jessica Simmons said losing the full-time teachers would hurt students.

“As our enrollments have decreased, we’ve lost our specials, our arts and music teachers, all the things that make you a well-rounded person at 7 or 8 years old,” she told the board. “I would ask that you look at these two schools closely in your budget and consider redistricting.”

The school risks losing a full-time librarian and counselor after its enrollment dropped below 300 students this year. The enrollment drop means the school will face reductions in art, math, physical education and gifted-resource teachers.

Currently, schools that drop below 300 students automatically have the librarian and guidance counselor go to part-time. The budget initiative lowers that threshold to 285 students, allowing Crozet Elementary to keep a full-time librarian and guidance counselor.

Schools Superintendent Pam Moran said the initiative would change the current hard cutoff to an enrollment range.

“What we are trying to do is, right now we have a hard stop, where at 300 you go to a full-time [librarian] and guidance counselor. With this, if a school is in a range of 285 to 300, they get the full-time staff,” she said.

According to Moran’s budget request, the initiative will cost the county schools about $46,000. That breaks down into roughly $33,000 to keep the guidance counselor and $13,000 to keep a media specialist.

Board member Eric Strucko said he worries that the school system is too reliant on numbers to make decisions.

“I think the parents raise a legitimate concern,” he said. “We tend to use numbers and metrics to make decisions, and this is an instance where our judgment should replace the metrics.”

Barbara Massie-Mouly, who represents Crozet on the School Board, said the revised threshold should address the parents’ concerns. Mouly said it is still too early to talk about redistricting.

“The parents’ concern is well taken. Some of it is perception and some of it is substantive, and that has been addressed by the initiatives,” she said.

Crozet parent Rabi Respeto asked the board to consider a redistricting because Crozet Elementary’s capacity is around 350 students, and nearby Brownsville Elementary is closing in on its capacity of 725 students.

“I am concerned about the potential funding cuts to Crozet due to our declining enrollments,” she said. “Crozet currently has a capacity of approximately 350 … New construction is expected to bring Brownsville to capacity in the next few years.”

Respeto later told the board that part of her concern is that new residents of Crozet may begin to see Crozet Elementary as a lesser school than Brownsville, as more specialized teaching positions get cut because of the school’s enrollment.

“We have a Realtor telling us that people are asking for Brownsville instead of Crozet,” she said. “We’re trying to avoid the perception that it is a case of the haves versus the have-nots. That is not the case, but it’s the perception.”

The School Board agreed last week to a “needs-based” funding request of $151.7 million in spending. Projected revenues for next year are approximately $146.8 million, leaving schools with a $4.9 million spending gap. The current year’s adopted budget is $144.9 million.

Key dates

Upcoming meetings related to next year’s budget for Albemarle County Public Schools:

Feb. 9: Budget adoption by School Board, ACOB, Lane Auditorium, 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 11: Budget work session (if needed), ACOB, Room 241, 8 a.m.

March 13: Board of Supervisors work session on schools budget, ACOB, Room 241

April 4: Final county budget adoption, ACOB, Lane Auditorium.