The College Admissions Process

It's that time of year when high school students across the commonwealth receive the news about where they will spend the next four years. Obviously, some folks are happy that they have been accepted at the school of their choice. Others have to consider their drop back schools. Of course, many folks (including the author of this blog) find that their second choices turned out to be the right place for them to grow and find themselves academically and socially. Most who have experienced college life know that it is what you make of where you are that matters. You can apply yourself and make the experience valuable whether you are at Harvard, Virginia Tech, Ferrum or VWCC.

What are your thoughts?

School Budget

The Franklin County School Board faces a $6-$7 million dollar deficit for the upcoming school year. Under the Virginia law, local school boards do not have the power to raise revenue. That function is the responsibility of the local board of supervisors or city council. The Virginia General Assembly is the process of passing a budget for the state that will reduce education funding to localities and will not provide any additional revenues for local governments to put towards their school budgets. At the local level, the governing bodies must either reduce spending through cuts in services and/or raise taxes.

In Franklin County, the tax rate on real estate, the primary means of funding local services, is $.46 per $100 in value of the property. For every penny the tax is raised on a $200,000 piece of property would cost the owner $20 and would net the county about $500,000 when applied to all property owners.

Both the county government and school board are considering a host of cuts. This article in the Roanoke Times outlines some of the items up for consideration. After reading the article and considering some of our discussions in class, what would you do to deal with the deficit the school system faces? What should the school board establish as their priorities?