"Dr. Scottie Griffin may want to cut back on guidance counselors and gym teachers in 2005-06, but could she lose principals along the way? In public meetings last week about the city school superintendent’s proposed $58 million budget, some parents and teachers challenged her cuts. Many pointed to the loss of P.E. teachers and guidance counselors that Griffin figured into next year’s spending, to save about $312,000. Other objections came up, too: tight salary increases for staff; investing new money in grant writing instead of preschool or after-school programs. And more. “I think the whole budget is terribly misguided,” said parent Ellen Wagner.

Parent discontent has swelled in the six months since Griffin took the district’s top job. Now, could the alienation extend further as she defends her budget?

The city’s 10 principals put in budget requests, but they’re not getting a lot of what they asked for. If budget time would seem perfect for the superintendent to win over principals, well, it’s not happening yet. Principals work with Charlottesville’s 4,400 students every day. That’s demanding enough, but Griffin unsettled things this fall with her fast-moving changes (new achievement tests and reading programs, for instance).

But instead of payback, two of the city’s seven elementary schools didn’t even get the bus monitors they want. “The school administration finds itself dealing with issues that happen on the bus daily…” wrote Johnson principal Dorren Brown, suggesting she’d rather spend her time raising the achievement of “all Johnson students,” echoing a district-wide goal.

Timothy Flynn, who heads Buford Middle School, also talked about discipline; he wants to get back the assistant principal job Buford gave up in 2004-05. “Student discipline is a full-time job at Buford,” he wrote. But so far, no go.

Griffin has earmarked more than $108,000 for a “grant writer” and a beefed-up “public relations” specialist. Another $361,730 is flagged for four additional “coordinators.” No principal listed a coordinator or flak among must-haves in their budget requests, which are included in documents Griffin provided to the School Board, but some principals wanted full-time nurses and library assistants. “The number of children with health plans continues to increase,” said Faye Giglio, the Greenbrier principal.

At last week’s budget forum (the first of four) about 100 people were directed to discuss the budget’s ups and downs, but principals were not speaking out. Some teachers were, however, including Walker gym teacher Kelly Hann, who questioned why P.E. would be on the block when 50 percent of Walker children are either obese or on the way there. Also in that discussion group, Leah Puryear, a former city schools mother who directs UVA’s Upward Bound program, said she liked the salary increase for teachers that Griffin proposed: “I thought 5 percent was really nice.”

Still, the principals are said to be on the outs.

As a group, last week they aired their grievances with two City Councilors and two School Board members (Council appoints the School Board). The principals want another private meeting, but this time with the full School Board present, according to a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It’s not entirely clear how Dr. Griffin sees things. For six months she has refused all interview requests from C-VILLE.

The budget is the Board’s main focus between now and March 7, when it goes to Council, and there are at least three public meetings scheduled along the way. Can the seven-member Board straighten out the dialogue and avert a confrontation between the tense- talking superintendent and her skippers?

They just might have to. City Councilor Blake Caravati, who attended the budget forum, was disappointed Wednesday night. Would he accept Griffin’s budget, if, as is unlikely, it made its way to Council unchanged? “No, I’d turn it right back around,” he said. “To me, every budget needs to be keyed into a strategic plan and there is no plan here.”

Caravati further said he expects budgets to incorporate “collaboration and communication.” “I see very, very little collaboration with school staff,” he said." (Cathy Harding, C-Ville Weekly, February 1, 2005)