Wilson County commissioners listened to the final formal budget presentations from school and college officials Thursday night.
Rusty Stephens, president of Wilson Community College, and Larry Price, Wilson County schools superintendent, presented their requests for 2008-09 just two days after voters rejected a sales tax increase that would have provided the county an additional $2.1 million.
Wilson Community College is seeking an increase of $261,000 from a current expense budget of $1.7 million, and $1.4 million in capital outlay from a current budget of $133,912.
Stephens painted a bleak picture of facilities on campus, and also a bright future of how an updated campus could meet the needs of students facing the work force or higher education.
Stephens said more than half of the buildings on the campus were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The oldest building was built with World War II-era bricks, he said.
"We have a problem," Stephens said. "We have a serious problem."
The college's workers have only been able to complete emergency maintenance on them, he said.
Commissioners gave WCC extra funding in 2004-05 and a 1999-2000 statewide bond issue helped, Stephens said, but the college no longer has that funding.
Last year, the WCC board of trustees asked for $3 million from the county, $1.2 million more than in the past. But it was only given an additional $33,000, Stephens said.
Two positions at the college have been cut because of the lack of funds, and they need to be replaced, Stephens said.
Stephens said an engineering study needs to be done on all of the buildings.
The college has $500,000 budgeted from a state energy loan that could help offset the costs for another year. But that is if the college gets the loan. If it doesn't, it will still need those funds, Stephens said.
Stephens said for the future he would like to see more green buildings on campus that would cost about as much as a standard building but would save 50 percent or 60 percent of costs.
Commissioner Tim Williford said he has heard concerns from local business leaders about the college changing from a technical institute to one focusing more on transfer classes to prepare students for a four-year college.
"Nothing could be further from the truth," Stephens said.
The college was following a trend of dropping the "Technical" from its name, but still provided machinery and technology training along with adult education, basic education and transfer classes.
One of the machinery classes was dropped, but that was because there were only two students in a 6,500-square-foot building, Stephens said.
The equipment was still available and the training could still be provided, but the college could not dedicate that much room for that few students, Stephens said.
About four years ago machinery-skilled classes began declining, not only locally but nationally, Stephens said.
Statewide about 100 technology or machinery-skilled classes were dropped between 2002-07, he said.
However, Stephens said he talks with local industry leaders to stay on top of what kind of training is needed in the work community. About 1,000 students have been trained in a program set up with Bridgestone Firestone to help people get jobs there, he said.
The college also works with Wilson County Schools, which has resulted in doubling of number of students taking welding classes, Stephens said.
But the general education courses are paying the bills for the machinery and technology classes because they are less expensive and generate more money, Stephens said.
WILSON COUNTY SCHOOLS
The Wilson County Board of Education is requesting an increase of $3.1 million from a current expense budget of $19.3 million, and an increase of $250,000 in capital outlay funding from $1.2 million.
Some of the increased funding for expenses include: $650,000 in teacher, principal and assistant principal supplements; $165,000 for three additional assistant principals; $200,000 for increases in utility costs; $400,000 for special instructional programs; and $360,000 in bonuses for faculty in priority schools.
Price said every year he hears if the schools would just cut its administration it would not have to ask for more funding. But he said 77 percent of budget goes toward core academic spending and only 1 percent goes toward administration.
"We aren't spending a lot on administration," Price said. "In fact, we are not spending enough. ... I find it always interesting there are people who don't do what we do but always know what we need."
Although the schools are doing really well with their reading performance in the first and second grades, student performance in other areas -- elementary and middle school reading and math, end-of-course tests and SATs -- were declining, Price said.
That was being caused by new state standards that are continuously changing and in some degree motivated by politics, he said.
It seems as though "every president and governor" is trying to fine a link to education issues, like "No Child Left Behind," which should be about helping students instead of punishing them, Price said.
Since 1983, education has been on a "fast track," Price said.
But one of the biggest concerns is the dropout rate, Price said.
"We've got a big problem in Wilson County in the number of students who don't graduate high school," he said.
Price said he has met with many students who have dropped out and asked them why they did it.
"Many don't seem to place a value in education," Price said. "But some are now learning they can't even work at McDonald's without a high school diploma."
Price showed commissioners a chart on the schools' four-year graduation rate. From 2003 to 2007 only 56.5 percent of the students graduated, which Price said was unacceptable.
Out of the 328 dropouts last year, Wilson lost the potential of generating $125 million in productivity, Price said
Speaking about the campuses, Price said for the past 12 years the schools have received only $1 million a year for capital outlay and it was hard to maintain 2 million square feet of facilities with that.
Debt service on school construction will be $5.5 million this year. Of that, $4.14 million comes from sales taxes and the lottery and $1.57 million from property taxes, Price said.
With that funding, the Board of Education has provided $90 million worth of school buildings in the county, building seven schools over the years and one more now under construction and expanding and renovating eight schools, Price said.
Wilson County was getting a good deal from its sales taxes, Price said.
Other than a $18 million bond referendum 2001, sales taxes have been used for school construction, he said.
eddie@wilsontimes.com | 265-7820