No Bottled Water For Arlington School Employees
We’ve growled twice this month about Arlington Public Schools’ highest cost-per-student (i.e., $19,538) among the Washington DC suburban school districts (December 7 and December 10). A little digging provides a clue of why.
At the Arlington School Board’s Thursday, December 18 meeting, one of the Board’s action items (number E.2. on the agenda) involved the strategy the schools staff should use to address the expected revenue shortfall of $7.5 million as well “a need for $2.8 million of expenditures either not budgeted or projected to be over budget in FY 2009.” Over half of that $2.8 million, by the way, resulted from the unexpected increase in enrollment.
In his October 24, 2008 memo to School Board members, the Superintendent listed “cost saving measures” to be undertaken. For example, limiting profession travel “to travel that is an essential part of an employee’s job” and instituting a hiring freeze for non-classroom positions.
One cost saving measure, however, especially caught our eye. It concerned “food and bottled water.” Here’s how the Superintendent put it:
"The purchase of food is generally discouraged, and staff is encouraged to schedule meetings outside of meal times. Providing modest food and/or beverages may be appropriate for:
- Meetings or training sessions where a full meal break would be inefficient.
- Recognitions for staff and citizens.
"When providing food and/or beverages:
- Staff should keep costs low and not exceed APS’ per person reimbursement guidelines ($6 breakfast; $12 lunch)
- Staff should avoid purchasing bottled water. Instead provide pitchers of ice water.
"School and department end-of-the year picnics should be funded with donations or vending machine revenue."
Sheesh! If avoiding the purchase of bottled water is among the cost saving measures being touted by the Superintendent and his staff, is it any wonder why the School Board has avoided ordering a school efficiency review that would be paid for by the state? Oh, the three newest school board members are all on the record supporting such reviews. For a list of Virginia school districts where efficiency reviews have been completed visit the Virginia Department of Education website.
UPDATE (12/22/08): In the penultimate sentence, "all all" corrected to "are all." The Arlington resident spotting this "typo" will remain anonymous.