Campbell school board OKs budget with school closure, job cuts

The Campbell County School Board voted Monday to approve Superintendent Robert Johnson’s proposed budget, which includes closing Gladys Elementary and scaling down the Fray Educational Center.

The school budget would cut 72 teaching positions, one full-time and five part-time administrative positions, as well as 27 other positions, according to Johnson’s presentation. He said that some cuts would come through attrition, but that 45 teachers would lose their jobs.

Johnson earlier had called for cutting the equivalent of 65 teaching positions, but increased that number in his proposal to the board Monday.

The approved budget would put the 20/20 retirement plan on indefinite hold. Under the current 20/20 plan retired staff members can come back to work for the school division for 20 days for 20 percent of their contracted pay. Johnson had previously suggested cutting pay for the program to 10 percent.

The budget also cuts all money for new school bus purchases, scales back the amount of games the athletic teams will play and decreases the pool of money to pay for substitute teachers.

Johnson said that the balanced budget total factors in a state revenue reduction of about $9.3 million.

All board members except George Jones, the Brookneal district member, voted to approve the budget. Earlier, Jones proposed an amendment that would have asked Johnson to work with county officials to try to find funds to keep Gladys Elementary open for a transitional year. That motion failed, with only Jones and Don Roberts, the Seneca district member, supporting it.

“We don’t like change in this county but we are forced to change,” said Concord district school board member Barry Jones, during a brief discussion before the vote.

Barry Jones said that he had put a lot of time and effort in the past few weeks in looking at the budget situation. He said he respected the efforts of George Jones and the Gladys school advocates, but if there was more money to be found, it should go to saving the jobs of teachers.

To make his point he asked a portion of the audience to stand, to represent who would lose their jobs under the division’s Reduction In Force policy. He said those losing their jobs were likely to be young, first-, second- and third-year teachers, who might be buying first homes or starting families.

“Where are these 49 ‘kids’ going to go?” Jones asked.

School board members Susan Hogg, Leon Brandt and Gary Mattox all echoed or seconded Barry Jones’ comments.

Board chairman Roger Akers said that consolidating Gladys and Brookneal elementary schools would increase educational opportunities for children from both schools. His comment drew boos from some audience members.

In response to Barry Jones, George Jones suggested a hypothetical counter-demonstration.

“Perhaps everyone would like to go eight miles down the road and hold the meeting because that’s what’s going to happen to Gladys.” Jones said, adding that he felt the Gladys community had been "drug through the mud" during his years on the board.

Following the meeting some Gladys-area residents cried and some came forward to shake George Jones’ hand. Gladys parent Donna Lipphard said that she and other Gladys community members will take a shot at convincing the board of supervisors to reject the school budget as passed.

The public hearing for the Campbell County budget, which includes the school budget, will be 7 p.m. May 3 at the Rustburg Haberer Building.