PWC Ducks, But Manassas Park Tells The Truth
By Greg L | 11 March 2008 | Manassas Park, Prince William County | 9 Comments
Manassas Park apparently is seeing the positive effects of the Rule of Law Resolution in Prince William County, according to School Superintendent Thomas Deboldt, as reported in the MJM. While Prince William County School Officials absolutely refuse to discuss the reasons behind the reduction in enrollment there, in a surprising move Manassas Park is setting the standard for government transparency, at least in this case.
DeBolt said that the mass exodus of Hispanic children — he estimated around 100 — was partly to blame for the decline in enrollment. DeBolt cited adjustable rate mortgages, a loss of construction jobs and the Prince William County resolution restricting services to illegal immigrants as reason for the enrollment plunge.
Overall, the school’s numbers are expected to drop from 2,516 students on Sept. 30, 2007, to 2,400 this Sept. 30.
This has got to be terribly embarrassing to the Prince William County School System, which refused to explain today why this enrollment drop has occurred, even though they collect data when a student withdraws that would absolutely answer this question. The data must not support the apparent philosophy of the Prince William County Schools, so they refuse to answer legitimate questions about the enrollment changes which have important implications for public policy and the county budget. Manassas Park is working hard to adjust their spending levels to put them in line with the actual enrollment, and meanwhile the Prince William County School Board is using inaccurate and outdated information to justify budget requests that don’t reflect actual enrollment patterns in the County. It’s like the world turned upside-down today.
I had heard several Manassas Park residents express in glowing terms their faith and respect for the Manassas Park School System in the past. Today’s refreshing frankness and willingness to address budget realities helps demonstrate why that this faith is justified. At the same time, our faith in the Prince William County Schools has taken a hit, and it will be difficult to uncritically evaluate information that Dr. Walt’s staff or the School Board provide in the future. I know there are good people on the Prince William School Board who are worthy of our trust, and this recent development is absolutely inconsistent with my experience with these elected officials. Most likely, since they depend on the staff of the school system to provide them with the information they use to make decisions, the problem is more one of the School Board not exercising effective oversight over the school system’s staff and being mislead by them. It’s the School Board that ultimately is responsible for fixing this problem, though.
When a bureaucrat embarrasses the elected officials who have oversight over him, it’s not uncommon for the career of that bureaucrat to be cut somewhat short. To restore confidence in the Prince William County Schools, that response is probably not an option, but an imperative. In Manassas Park, the Chairman of the School Board has earned a solid position for a run at the Mayorship, if that’s what he would like to do, for simply doing a good job and being honest with the taxpayers. It’s an object lesson in earned political capital. Some get this, and apparently some do not.
I’m surprised that Manassas Park, the perennial problem child of effective local government is in a position to teach Prince William County government any lessons, but in this case they earned it. This pleasant surprise almost offsets my heightened concerns about Prince William County. It’s now up to the Prince William County School Board to address this, and that needs to happens soon.
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You know what to call this?
A good start!
Thanks HSM.
In the meeting tonight it was mentioned that the Manassas Park 287g program has one officer about done with certification and another scheduled for training.
It was also mentioned that the MPPD confiscated a Cadillac Escalade and they’re going to use for a K9 vehicle. There were no further details about this, I haven’t seen anything in the paper. I’m guessing it was drug-related.
Nobody spoke at either public hearing (graffiti codes or the RnR new CUP).
I was in the room and thought about speaking at the public hearing, but saw the guy in the back with a tape recorder - I assume he was yours since Kipp was in the front. Since I really didn’t want to appear in one of your blog posts, I didn’t speak.
You want more ammo against the PWC school system, remember it’s been reported that at Mullen Elementary they had a “Spanish Day” where 1st graders had to watch movies in Spanish for no discernable purpose, and they have been hiring a translator at public events such as “Literacy Night”.
Let’s see, if I connect the dots right, it seems that Dr. Walts and Chief Deane are the the bvbl and/or HSM sites. Am I to assume that 2 replacements have already been hand picked?
“I was in the room and thought about speaking at the public hearing, but saw the guy in the back with a tape recorder”
These meetings are broadcast live over cable channel 23. So one doesn’t even need to go to a meeting to record it.
Did the new buyer of Rack n Roll get his CUP?
The planning commission voted to recommend approval of the CUP, the city council did not vote on it last night, they will vote on it on March 18.
I really do not see any reason that they should vote to deny this CUP.
I looked at the security plan and it seems to be pretty solid.