AlexandriaNews

As City Council debates the budget for the next fiscal year, one of the thorny issues is employee pay. City employees received step increases last year and are slated for one this year. The top of the salary scale employees are to be given a special one-time bonus.

At the end of last week, Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman released an "audit" prepared by the accounting firm of Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates. He sent a memorandum to announce: "There are no findings that personal gain or profit took place" and that "There is sufficient funding in the overall CIP accounts to complete major facilities projects."

Recently the Educational Association of Alexandria published on its web site salary and benefit information for senior staff of the Alexandria City Public Schools.

Since the economic crisis of 2008, budgeting for state and local government has not been easy. Alexandria's previous City Manager handled the task well. Our new City Manager, Rashad Young, has proposed a budget in keeping with that tradition.

Alexandria Paramedic Joshua A. Weissman died last week from injuries sustained while responding to a car fire on Interstate 395.

The School Board held a lengthy work session on the Superintendent's proposed budget last week. The School Board Chair, Sheryl Gorsuch, was cautionary in her comments about the session in which some members flirted with additional staff compensation and restoring weeks of intercession instruction at Samuel Tucker Elementary School and Mt. Vernon Community School, two schools with modified calendars.

City Council adopted the waterfront plan on a vote of 5-2 after a marathon public hearing. Opponents vowed to fight on in the courts but the issue is settled for the moment.

Superintendent of Schools Morton Sherman presented his Fiscal Year 2013 budget to the School Board and the public last Thursday.

In December of last year Tracey Fells, a former star football player in the 1980s at TC Williams High School, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute greater than 280 grams of cocaine base "crack" and greater than 500 grams of cocaine.

This past week Superintendent of Schools Morton Sherman let the School Board and the public in on some of his thinking that is shaping the budget for next year.