Two letters to the editor in the Oak Ridger this morning (Trina Baughn, Lila Marathe) lambaste the school board for not reinstating buses, in spite of the City’s granting a portion of the funding increase requested by the school board.

Reinstatement of the buses was not in the budget approved and submitted to council; the increase was needed to avoid additional cuts in programs and services — not to restore anything previously reduced or eliminated. As it stands, an additional $140,000 will have to be cut from the schools’ budget in order to balance it, as is required by state law.

There is a good possibility of additional state funding, over and above the increase estimated in February. Should that come through, the schools budget will be adjusted accordingly. It’s possible that some things previously cut from the budget may be restored. However, that process will not begin until the Legislature takes action to increase education funding, and we receive notification of the expected amounts (along with the expected conditions, which must be met before any other needs are addressed).

I sincerely hope that we do have to revise the budget, and that we’re able to restore a number of things, including real-world base amounts for a number of recurring expenses like textbooks. That would move us away from such heavy use of the fund balance (which is nearly depleted now), and hopefully avoid the steep increases in new funding needed from the City as projected in this year’s budget discussions.

This is one of those times when it pays to pay attention, picking up on names that show up in various venues and linking them. Ms. Baughn spoke at the second reading of the City’s appropriations ordinance one week ago today, asking that City Council NOT raise taxes, that they deny the schools’ request. Ms. Marathe’s husband, Andy, did the same.

So, these ladies have asked that the City deny funding to the schools, yet they sharply criticize the loss of services that resulted from that same action by the City last year.

The truth of the matter lies in the last sentence of Baughn’s letter: it’s all about the election.

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There’s an archive of positive letters here, though.