CHESAPEAKE -- A charity delivered truckloads of supplies to several Hampton Roads schools as they brace for big budget cuts.
HOPE Charitable Services loaded more than a half-million dollars worth of books, notebooks and desks into trucks for local schools. The supplies were delivered throughout the day Wednesday to 12 schools in desperate need of help.
The deliveries come as the state is considering massive cuts to public education funding. The charity's executive director Frank Allen is encouraging other people to get involved.
"We could spend a lot of time pointing fingers across the political aisles. If we would take that energy and begin to work in our own communities and our networks and relationships -- our employers, businesses in our area -- I think we can come out of this thing really really good," said Frank Allen, the charity's executive director.
The school supplies will be delivered to Westhaven Elementary School in Portsmouth, James Monroe Elementary School in Norfolk, Newtown Elementary School in Virginia Beach, G.A. Treakle Elementary School in Chesapeake, the STOP Organization in Norfolk, Westside Elementary School in Isle of Wight, Lindsay Middle School in Newport News, Lee Elementary School in Hampton, S.P. Morton Elementary School in Franklin, Southampton County Headstart, Tungoteague Elementary School on the Eastern Shore, and a school in Brunswick County.
The principal of James Monroe Elementary in Norfolk, Cassandra Duke-Washington, says she's thankful for the extra help.
"It's a wonderful feeling because it lets you know that we're all in this together to make a difference."
The House of Delegates' and Senate's budget differ from that proposed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, but they both include cuts to K-12 education.
The Senate proposes cutting $133 million for K-12 over two years; the House seeks to cut about $620 million, but would allow local school districts to reduce the amount they have to contribute to employee pensions by about $270 million annually, for net cuts of about $80 million; and McDonnell wants to cut $731 million more from K-12.
Many school divisions that have a high percentage of low-income and at-risk children are especially concerned about a House proposal to save about $50 million by establishing a block-grant system to use lottery proceeds to pay for programs that help those students. The funding would be redistributed by a per-pupil amount for an entire division's population, rather than the current method of funding just at-risk students.
Under the proposed change, for example, Norfolk's public schools would lose nearly $8.7 million in funding for pre-kindergarten, early-reading intervention and other programs benefiting at-risk children in the 2011 fiscal year.
62 percent of Norfolk's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
