Backpacks are back

As economists point to slight boosts in the economy, cautiously predicting the worst may be over, area school systems don't seem to be feeling any relief.

School board members representing Bedford and Franklin county public schools shaved millions of dollars from the 2010-2011 budgets because of decreased funding at the county, state and federal levels.

"It was very emotional and very draining," said Dave Vaden, Huddleston resident and Bedford County's District 3 school board member.

In a few months, school board members will wield scalpels again as they begin working on the 2011-2012 budgets.

"When the economy fails, it typically affects the private sector first," said Dr. Douglas Schuch, superintendent of Bedford County Public Schools. "The impact of that to us is somewhat delayed because we generate our revenue behind all that."

He said public school systems may not start seeing economic relief for a while, potentially meaning deeper cuts over the next few years.

For this school year, Bedford County Public Schools cut about $7.5 million, or 7.12 percent, from the 2009-2010 budget. Franklin County cut about $2.8 million, or 3.48 percent.

School officials said the biggest changes stemming from budget cuts that parents will notice are fewer teachers and larger classrooms, which equate to less one-on-one attention given to struggling students.

At Bedford County Public Schools, some grade levels may be combined to keep the student-teacher ratio affordable, said Schuch.

For example, if a school has 50 kindergartners and 15 first-graders, they could be split into three classes of about 22, said Schuch. One would be pure kindergarten, one solely for first-graders and one would be a hybrid class.

"When we brought this idea to our school board and staff, a lot of them said it was common practice back in the day," said Schuch.

He said principals would make the decisions on whether to combine grade levels and that parents would be notified if their children have been enrolled in hybrid classes.

At Franklin County Public Schools, in addition to fewer teachers, some classes will no longer have teacher aides, said P.D. Hambrick, Franklin County's Union Hall school board member.

"The biggest concern we have is that it's really going to jeopardize the SOL [Standards of Learning] scores and No Child Left Behind," said Hambrick. "[Parents] are going to have to step up to the plate and start helping kids with their homework."

According to the Virginia Department of Education, five of Franklin County's 16 public schools did not make adequate yearly progress during the 2009-2010 school year for No Child Left Behind. In Bedford County, 10 of 21 schools didn't hit enough benchmarks.

To help recoup some of the funding public schools have lost, Hambrick said the county boards of supervisors will have to bite the bullet and raise real estate tax rates.

He said it will be critical next year because real estate reassessment values are likely to go down when both counties undergo property reassessments in 2011. The 2007 reassessments took into account the booming housing market that sent prices soaring. The Bedford and Franklin county average property value increase was 55 percent.

Following the reassessment, both county's supervisors lowered tax rates to lessen the effect on residents' pocketbooks. Hambrick said if the 2011 reassessments are lower because of the slower housing market the past few years, the real estate tax rates will have to go up, or the counties will receive less revenue from property owners.

"You're not going to be paying any more taxes," he said.

If those rates continue to remain low -- with Bedford and Franklin counties having some of the lowest in the state -- the school systems, and the students, will continue to suffer, said Hambrick.

"If your assessment goes down, your tax revenue has got to go up to recoup that difference," said Hambrick. "I just don't see how it's going to work any other way."