Alborn: Swimming Pool Missing from School’s Strategic Plan

Opinion 

I don’t mind paying taxes, I don’t like to pay too much in taxes, and I don’t like to see them wasted. When I see my money being spent to full the broader community’s will, I don’t object. I also like to see my tax dollars spent strategically.

That’s why I was happy to serve on the last two Strategic Planning Teams in Prince William County. Strategic Plans are created to reflect community goals, objectives, and measures of performance. Prince William’s Chairman and Board of County Supervisors use the Strategic Plan, which they approved, to inform the budget process. I am comfortable that Prince William County’s 2013-2016 Strategic Plan was used as the framework for the FY2014 budget.

I’m not sure I can say the same for the proposed School Budget, or plans for putting Swimming Pools in schools. I reviewed the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan FY 2011-15, and didn’t find a single mention of Swimming Pools in schools as a goal or objective.

Goal number one is student achievement. I think that is a worthy goal. I suspect the community agrees.

When I looked up our performance relative to other School Systems in the FY 2013 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide (WABE), I notice we could use some improvement in that area.

We have children going to school in trailers, our schools are bumping up against the state limit on classroom size, we need to take better care of our teachers, and we need to work on Student Achievement.

So, why the hell are we talking about putting Swimming Pools in Prince William County schools?

It is nowhere in the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan, and does nothing to address the many problems and challenges that our Teachers and students face every day.

We should be talking about Goal Number One in the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan FY 2011-15: Student Achievement.

I don’t have any children in school; however, I don’t mind paying more in taxes to improve education, to take care of teachers, and get our children out of trailer classrooms.

I understand that some of our local politicians are on a campaign to drum up support for pools in schools. In my opinion, this is a misguided adventure that wastes valuable public dialog on how to actually focus on the goals contained in the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan FY 2011-15. In an earlier article I criticized the School Board for not presenting a budget that aligned with its Strategic Plan.

I stand by that criticism. The pools in schools issue is an example of that which I wrote.

I really have nothing against pools. If there is really a community need for places to swim, I would prefer that the private sector step up and build them. The free market is usually the best judge of what people are really willing to pay for. If the community wants pools in schools, the Strategic Planning process will reflect the requirement creating a justification to add them to the budget process.

When it comes to watching how the School Board spends my tax dollars, I do object to bypassing the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan FY 2011-15 There’s not a word about pools in there. There are many other worthy goals that reflect the community’s will. That’s where we should be focusing our attention.

Let’s get the conversation back where it belongs. A look at the Prince William County Public Schools Strategic Plan tells us that pools in schools simply don’t qualify.