School aid bills for Rappahannock advance toward final floor action in General Assembly
Proposed legislation that could pave the way for an increase in state aid to Rappahannock County public schools has cleared key committees and advanced toward final floor votes in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, School Superintendent Robert Chappell said Tuesday evening.
Chappell said he had received a call from County Administrator John McCarthy informing him that the school aid bills were cleared for floor action by the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. If the legislation survives the floor votes, it also must be signed by Gov. Tim Kaine.
The legislation would not, by itself, guarantee any additional financial aid from the Commonwealth to the county’s school system. It would allow the county to enter into a cost-sharing agreement with another nearby county school system, and thereby adopt that county’s more favorable funding formula for state aid. Even if such an agreement is reached, the maximum amount that Rappahannock could receive in additional state funding would be $250,000–at that only if the General Assembly approves such an appropriation next year.
“I know there are people who say that this is a drop in the bucket, but $250,000 does not look like a drop in the bucket to me,” Chappell said. The superintendent appeared to be responding to a front-page article in last week’s Rappahannock News, which used the phrase “a drop in the bucket” in a headline over a graphic depicting the additional school aid as a small red streak in a large pail representing the entire school budget.
-- James P. Gannon
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