Alborn: Schools Chairman Johns Entertains Citizen Input

OPINION 

Last Sunday, I published a column titled “Schools Need More Detailed Budget.”

It was about the Prince William County School Board’s budget presentation to the Board of County Supervisors, and in it I made some observations about its budget practices in general.

Shortly thereafter, I was invited to coffee by School Board Chairman Milt Johns. Johns is familiar with my “office hours” policy working from local coffee shops.  I’m available for coffee with anyone who wishes to discuss public policy.  Of course, I accepted with a bit of apprehension.  I suspected that perhaps Chairman Johns was less than pleased with my column.

My apprehension was misplaced.

I suspected our meeting would be best held in private, so we met at John’s office in Old Town Manassas.  The possibility of yelling and screaming crossed my mind. Braced for the worst, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Prince William’s School Board Chairman was actually interested in exploring the topic of strategic planning and its application to the budget process.

The chairman was truly interested in citizen input.

Let’s be clear here. Johns presides over a billion dollar annual budget. He needs little tutoring on how to work with big numbers.  I did discover that he is always looking for ways to improve the process.  I found absolutely no defensiveness on his part during our conversation, and a willingness to explore new ideas.

As a taxpayer, I was impressed.

The conversation covered a number of areas, and re-framed my thinking a bit regarding the challenges Johns and the rest of the School Board face.  Teacher compensation, recognition and performance incentives are a big issue to the Chairman.  

Johns discussed, as an example, Standards of Learning test scores. How do you compare performance when scores on an SOL test in one class improve from 94% to 95% passing, but in another class they improve from 50% to 65% passing.   Now, cast this issue in light of different demographics,  economic circumstances, and perhaps even ESOL populations of different schools.

Which teacher was more successful? Which teacher faced the greater challenge, and rose to the occasion? Should rewards be equal?

I also found the diversity in the wealth of school parent populations and its impact on school principals interesting. Johns mentioned that a principal in a wealthy community who would like a $30,000 high speed copier might simply ask his parent teacher organization to write him or her a check.

Schools in more economically challenged areas lack that option.

We explored strategic planning in detail.  Chairman Johns, of course, is familiar with the process. He was intrigued by the observation that perhaps the School Board’s budget could be better aligned with the School System’s Strategic Plan, and wished to discuss how that might be accomplished.

I pointed out that Prince William County’s Office of Management and Budget does, in my opinion, a very good job of aligning its budget with the Community’s Strategic Plan. You may disagree with “what’s in there”; however, you are disagreeing within a defined context.  

That makes the conversation to get to the final budget and tax rate easier, as those conversations are defined in terms of impact on the measurable goals defined in the county’s Strategic Plan.

Less money means less of some service to the public.  Understanding the relationship and impact is important to these conversations. 

To make this alignment work, you have to start with a good Strategic Plan. The potential failures we discussed included simply ignoring the strategic plan in developing a budget, or perhaps working with a Strategic Plan that doesn’t lend itself to implementation.

The math is simple: A strategic plan defines what some enterprise should look like in terms of vision, goals and measurable results. The budget is how we achieve those goals and measurable results.  In the case of Prince William County, the published tax rate is the bound in deciding what to fund, and the adopted tax rate drives the public policy and services for the fiscal year in question.  

A budget is the essence of government. Nothing happens without it. The alignment of a Strategic Plan with the budget is how we “get it right”.

I took a break to get a second cup of coffee.  Clearly, we had entered the area of Strategic Planning Consulting.  While I have no illusions that Chairman Johns was looking for instructions on “what to do,” I was comfortable that our two way candid dialog was intended to simply compare notes and experience, and perhaps give him some ideas to ponder regarding future budgets.

Chairman Johns pointed out the ultimate challenge.  While the School Board’s budget is defined by a process outside its control,  the School Systems obligation to serve is open ended.  They simply cannot turn student’s away.

This column is not an endorsement of the FY2014 School Board budget.  I have issues with it (that I discussed in my previous column).  This is no surprise, as like most people I have issues with every governmental budget.

My goal here is to simply share a citizen’s perspective and a bit of insight into the challenges our School Board face, and my appreciation for the fact that Chairman Johns is struggling with several issues all constrained by a “magic number” that he must make work.  

I finished my second cup of coffee, and closed our conversation with a new appreciation for the man that leads our School Board.  We exchanged cards, and I suspect might chat again about this subject.

I may not agree with everything Johns or the School Board does, however, I am comfortable that he is quite approachable, willing to discuss any disagreement, and looking for ideas to improve the School System.

Johns gave me his private cell number and an invitation to call any time.  I added it to my speed dial.