The four newly elected members — Joe Vaughn, Bruce Cunningham, Lorna Clack and Kathy Farren — also hope that the new year will bring with it a more cordial relationship between the two bodies.
“I think it’s very important that we get off to a good start,” Vaughn said. “They are the funding source for about one-third of our total budget.
“They are elected by the citizens just as we are. They want to try and keep taxes low and, of course, we want to supply the best school system we can to the people.”
The biggest point of contention in the often-antagonistic relationship between the two governing bodies has been school funding. The Board of Commissioners must provide funding for the school system, but, at the same time, the commissioners are also charged with keeping the property tax rate down.
Seeing the two elected bodies working together would be a welcome change for many. The school system’s budget for the fiscal year 2004-2005 wasn’t finalized until August, long after the June 30 deadline. It marked the second time in six years that the two boards had to work through a mediation process to reach an agreement on funding for the schools.
Vaughn, the former finance officer for the school system, said a better working relationship could help avoid the kinds of disagreements that lead to funding impasses.
“I think we have more in common than we do in opposition,” Vaughn said. “To be honest, I think some of (the past problems) were the result of personality conflicts, but I don’t think that will be a problem now. I believe we can build a good working relationship. I believe we have the same goals in mind. I know they want a good school system and we do, too.”
Cunningham said the process of building a working relationship began the day after the election.
“The day after the election, I started calling the county commissioners and have had very cordial conversations with all of them,” Cunningham said. “I went to the planning retreat where (Superintendent) Dr. (Susan) Purser made a presentation and the commissioners I spoke with that day were very pleased with her presentation.”
Cunningham said Board of Commissioners Chairman Michael Holden expressed to him a desire to work together with the new school board.
“I think the new school board owes it to the county commissioners to look at the school budget from top to bottom before we go back to them with any budgetary requests,” Cunning-ham said. “We need to assure the county commissioners that we have considered all alternatives to budget increases before we ask for more money. I respect the fact that the schools are not the only entity that the county commissioners have to fund and I believe that every commissioner wants what’s best for the Moore County schools.”
School board member Jennifer Garner has been serving for six years, including two as chairwoman. She said the optimism currently being expressed is nothing new. She said when she first ran and got elected in 1998, one of her goals was to establish a better relationship between the boards.
“I am discouraged and disappointed about the way it has gone for the last six years,” she said. “When I ran, everybody agreed that we needed to get on track. That was one of my large goals, along with hiring a superintendent and dealing with accountability.”
Garner said politics have been a major sticking point.
“I was chair for two years and thought I would be able to make great progress,” she said, “I found that although I was among my political peers and we shared the same fiscal and accountability-based goals, it was hard to explain to the commissioners the true status and issues involved in our school system.
“No matter how hard I tried, through regular meetings and lunches, there never seemed to be much interest in trying to truly understand the needs and programs of our school system.”
She said Holden has expressed the same optimism before, but that the relationship between the two boards is set up to be confrontational. She said the commissioners keep setting goals that have been reached by the school system, but it’s never enough. She said promises of increased funding for goals met haven’t been kept.
“It keeps getting pushed back,” she said. “I feel they cut the budget for political reasons this year,” she said. “You shouldn’t punish children because you’re upset over political issues.”
Though the school board is nonpartisan, Garner said political affiliations and the accompanying philosophies are unavoidable. She said Cunningham and Holden’s political views are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
“He (Cunningham) is as far left as Holden is far right,” she said. “They might have some nice lunches. We did, too. But did we actually accomplish anything? We made some small gains but I don’t understand how a new school board with three Democrats and one Republican is going to improve the relationship when we just lost three Republicans and a pretty conservative independent.
“I don’t believe a conservative commission is going to work better with a much more liberal school board. We’re cut from a different cloth. We don’t agree on the same principles and our ideals are just different.”
Despite her reservations, Garner said she still has hope.
“What choice do you have but to be optimistic?” she asked.
Current board member Charles Lambert echoed Vaughn’s statements that personality conflicts might have had more to do with disagreements than politics.
“The first year I was on the board and we went before the commissioners, it seemed to me that there were some arguments that didn’t have anything to do with the budget,” he said. “It seemed to be some personal conflicts and I don’t necessarily think it was on (the commissioners’ side). I think it was from some of our members.”
He said some people have forgotten that the commissioners have been helpful in years past with regard to the schools’ budget, including providing pay supplements for teachers.
“If we just show them that we’re trying to be honest, aboveboard and frugal with the money it will help,” he said. “We’re supposed to fight for the children, we just need to do it in the right way.”
