hail to the champs
soup’s on!
murder case
the King george boy’s swim team reigns supreme at 4A North regional championships. Page 5
Feast your eyes and tastebuds on these recipies for soups and roasts for your small game. Page 6
Judge says three suspects in shootings will be tried together, not separately. Page 8
T he
POSTAL CUSTOMER
King George
Volume 39, Number 8
helping you relate to your community
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 50 Cents
Benson puts forth $38.3M school budget Includes pay raises and several added positions for ’15-16 Phyllis Cook King George Schools Superintendent Rob Benson presented the school board with a proposed $38.3 million budget for 2015-16, a 3.5 percent increase from this year’s $37 million plan. Local revenue accounts for about $15 million, an increase of about $852,000 from this year but less than the projected $1.2
million the school board recently discussed with supervisors to implement the first-year cost of a proposed teacher salary increase. The proposal, unveiled Feb. 9, does include a ‘competitive increase’ of 3 percent for teachers, as well as increases of 1.25 percent for all employees, including teachers, and step increases for all employees, except teachers, on steps 31 and above. Those raises are in addition to the staterequired 1 percent increases for Virginia Retirement System payments. Benson also outlined a list of new positions in the proposed budget. They include three elementary classroom teachers, a middle school reading specialist, a middle school special education teacher, a high school
foreign language teacher, a high school science teacher, a secondary math specialist and two full-time substitute bus drivers. “We continue to experience steady growth in enrollment at the elementary level. We are recommending additional staff to provide for the increased numbers we’ve experienced in the last couple of years, as well as for kindergarten students and others we expect to join us in the fall of 2015,” Benson said. Five new special education positions also are requested -- a school psychologist, behavior specialist, educational interpreter, certified occupational therapist assistant and an elementary teacher on administrative assignment. “In some cases where new special education
positions are being proposed, there will be a corresponding reduction in contracted services costs,” Benson said. “We believe it better, where feasible and financially prudent, to have our staff provide the services as opposed to contracting the services from a provider.” Benson’s proposal shows a small increase of about $144,000 in state aid to about $21.2 million, calculated by using a number for average daily students of 4,210. That’s the same number Benson said in December the division would end with for current school year. Benson has been consistent in using a low estimate of students to calculate state aid. “I’m always going to be on the conservative
more than just fire protection
side,” Benson said. Supervisors and the school board found themselves in similar circumstances last budget season when Benson also estimated a low number for average daily students for the current year and supervisors simply bumped it up a little. That’s likely to happen again. A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Revercomb building off Route 3. The budget is expected to be approved by the school board March 9. So far, no budget work sessions have been scheduled by the school board. The supervisors have to approve the school budget by May 1.
Sisson, Brabo will square off for at-large seat Phyllis Cook Dahlgren Supervisor Ruby Brabo is challenging Dale Sisson for his atlarge seat on the King George Board of Supervisors. The first-term member of the board filed her candidate paperwork last month but has indicated she was going to seek the new job since the fall. “My main focus is talking about why I’ve chosen to run for this seat,” Brabo said. “For the last three years, I heard from residents all over the county, not just from within the Dahlgren district. I have learned a lot and have appreciated the opportunity to help so many outside of my district.
Brabo
Sisson
“It only seems natural to seek the atlarge supervisor position so I can more fully serve the residents of our community.” Incumbent Sisson is taking a lowerkey approach to his campaign at this See BOARD, page 8
Numerous county offices are up for grabs this fall Phyllis Cook
Photo scourtesy of King George County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services
Responding to accidents, above, and helping injured people is just one of the many tasks done by the King George County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services department. Putting out fires, below, still is its main responsibilty.
King George department offers many life-saving services Richard Leggitt When members of the King George Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services put out a fire that destroyed a residence on Caledon Road in January, they also provided other much needed services to the family that lost its home. “We tried to find out what their needs were,” said Capt. Steve Lynd. “Clothes, food, shelter. And we contacted the Red Cross and other agencies to get them relocated and get them the help they needed.” The department is structured differently than many other departments in the area, using a mixture of paid employees and volunteers and coordinating all of its efforts through one department, where in most of the surrounding counties fire and rescue agencies are separate. “We do a lot of different things,” said Les Greeley, a volunteer with 29 years experience and an emergency services captain. “Fires, traffic accidents, delivering babies, and medical emergencies; you have to be prepared for anything.”
The department serves King George residents with a variety of services, including fire suppression, fire prevention, basic life support, advanced life support, water rescue, vehicle rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, emergency and disaster planning and public education. The combined structure of the fire, rescue and emergency services was authorized in 2008 and initially
met some community opposition, as did the mixing of paid and volunteer personnel. Since then, the department has won praise and earned a reputation for being there when King George citizens are in need. Lynd said the department maintains three firehouses in the county at Fairview, Dahlgren and on Kings Highway. Currently, the
department has 33 full-time career employees and 50 active volunteer members. “It just becomes a part of you,” said Greeley, who said he wanted to work in emergency services since as a little boy he watched the television series “Emergency.” “All I have ever wanted was to be a paramedic; it means a lot to me,” he added. Greeley is very proud that his 16-year-old son, Brian, is following in his footsteps and beginning to volunteer at the department one or two times a week. “Answering the call to become a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical technician requires a significant commitment, but comes with great reward,” said Lynd, who is the department’s deputy emergency management coordinator. “We spend a lot of time training,” Greeley said. “But we are available to help people with all kinds of problems. We get calls to inspect smoke detectors, to help people who have fallen or to assist people with medical conditions like diabetes. We try to be helpful anyway we can.”
Thinking of running for office? There are eleven local offices up for grabs in King George this fall. Potential candidates for county offices have until June 9 to file petitions and paperwork to get on the ballot for the Nov. 3 election. Seats up for election on the board of supervisors and the school board are those in the James Madison, Dahlgren and at-large districts, with four-year terms starting Jan. 1. Those six positions are part-time with professional administrators hired for implementing policies set by each of them. Legal requirements for running for local elective positions are minimal, including those for constitutional officers. It’s up to the candidates to tout their qualifications to perform the duties of the offices they seek. A candidate must be a registered voter, a resident of Virginia for at least one year immediately preceding the election, a resident of the election district to be represented by the time of filing and a U.S. citizen. Constitutional officers are elected to perform full-time administrative jobs including the supervision of staffs. The positions available include: n Clerk of the court: Tracks judicial proceedings and provides general record-keeping for the county. n Treasurer: Responsible for collection of taxes and their custody, accounting and disbursement. n Commissioner of revenue: Keeps tax books and prepares tax bills and is the receiving point for state income tax forms.
Now you can follow local breaking news daily on our website at www.journalpress.com
Sheriff back on ballot Sheriff Steve Dempsey wants to stay the head of law enforcement in King George. Dempsey succeeded Clarence W. “Moose” Dobson, as his hand-picked successor when he retired. After 35 years in office, Dobson resigned in the end of 2010, with a year left on his term. Dempsey ran for his first full term in November 2011. He won 75 percent of the vote in a two-way race with Fred Hottle, a former deputy. “I look forward to serving the citizens of King George County for another four years, continuing to provide the highest level of professional law enforcement making this county a safe place to live and work,” Dempsey said. “I feel we have accomplished a lot with the beginning of several programs, such as National Night Out, Shop with a Sheriff, Special Olympics and reinstating the DARE program to our elementary schools,” he added. — Phyllis Cook n Commonwealth’s attorney: Responsible for prosecuting violations of criminal law