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The new superintendent of Randolph County Schools recently delivered what he himself described as "distressing" news about the school system's finances -- and yet local residents should be grateful to receive the message.
Dr. Shawn Dilly, who was sworn in to the position in July, presented the county Board of Education with a list of concerns -- including declining student population, increasing costs and a lack of special education teachers.
"The picture I'm painting is that we have some unfortunate challenges in front of us, and we are going to have to make some tough decisions going into next year," Dilly told the BOE. "Because our funding is running out quickly and the cushion that we are utilizing to try and balance the budget is going to evaporate very fast."
Dilly noted that student enrollment across the county was down 305 students this year, and brought up the topic of school consolidation.
Dilly then discussed the county's carry-over funds and the possibility of the state stepping in and making decisions for Randolph County Schools.
"Our carry-over is our savings account and we are living off our savings account right now, and we can only use our savings account once," Dilly said. "Once that savings account is gone there is no option but to live within formula, and that is not what we want to do if we can help it.
"Because if we don't live within formula, and I want to state this very clearly because we've seen it happen throughout the state, if we don't get in front of it, the state will step in and take over and make decisions for us."
BOE member Rachel Anger spoke up and told Dilly the state has been close to taking over Randolph County Schools in the past, even during her tenure, and that the county at one point was placed on a "watch list."
"We are headed back in that direction again, and I don't want to scare anybody, because I do think there is a path forward," Dilly said. "But we are going to have to be open and honest, and work with our community to get to that end result and put us on a sustainable path forward, because right now we are on an unsustainable path and these numbers are continuing to showcase that more and more clearly."
Dilly told the board he would present proposals in the near future for both short-term and long-term solutions to the school system's financial issues.
Although sobering -- and yes, perhaps distressing -- Dilly's message is an important one that Randolph County residents need to hear.
Government officials who deal with taxpayers' money should always be encouraged to be as transparent as possible.
Some officials may be opposed to airing "dirty laundry" issues in public, but hiding problems behind closed doors often leads to a much bigger controversy when the problem becomes so big that it can no longer be ignored -- for example, when the state has to step in to take over a county school system.
Here's hoping that Dilly and the BOE can work together to avert such a situation from happening in Randolph County. Letting the public know what's going on is a great first step.