THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160333
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
With its initial attempt at a debt-reconciliation agreement rejected by the City Council, the School Board will apparently take up the matter again at next Tuesday's meeting.
The hotly debated issue of consolidating some city and school financial operations also could be considered.
It is not certain, however, that the votes are there to approve a more rigidly worded version of the payback terms approved by a divided board last week, and some board members were frustrated by the council's latest action.
``I think the City Council has done the School Board and the city a disservice on this,'' board member Donald F. Bennis said Wednesday. ``I think the City Council is pushing the matter.''
The agreement explains how the School Board will repay the city for a $12.1 million loan to cover the district's shortfall for the 1994-95 fiscal year. On Tuesday, City Council members rebuffed what some on the School Board clearly had seen as a peace offering.
Board members had altered some wording in an agreement hammered out by City Manager James K. Spore and interim Superintendent James L. Pughsley to allow the board more flexibility in deciding which money would be used for the repayment. But even Spore had described the board's changes as relatively minor.
The original agreement was reworded by the board so that any money that might go toward repayment would be considered on a ``case-by-case'' basis, requiring both the City Council and School Board to agree that it could be used for that purpose.
Under the terms sent to the City Council, the board would make its best effort to pay back the money on or before June 30, 2000, through several means, including the return of money leftover in the operating budget at the end of the fiscal year, the sale of surplus school system property or the transfer of such property to the city.
The board approved the agreement on a 7-4 vote with at least two board members swayed by the changes that later seemed to anger the City Council. According to the council's resolution, the School Board should have been more specific in its promises and should have acknowledged a ``moral obligation'' to repay the citizens and council.
School Board members also have yet to address the council's demands that the school district agree to consolidate some school and city financial operations.
Several board members said Wednesday that they needed more information on what the council had in mind in the way of a different reconciliation agreement and a plan for consolidation. Some on the board have argued that consolidation represented a city effort to take over the school division. Others believe it makes financial sense.
Neither of the issues is on the current agenda for next week's board meeting, but Chairwoman June T. Kernutt said they still could be added. Council members have threatened to go to the General Assembly for authority to merge the departments if board members fail to approve consolidation at their meeting on Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS BUDGET by CNB