Editor, Gazette-Journal:

A large number of parents with children, teachers and others filled Monday’s budget hearing to urge the full requested school budget funding. Their collective behavior at times was noisy and disrespectful. It was not model behavior for the teens attending.

At the podium, no one mentioned that the schools’ budget amount as presented in the draft budget increased by more than a half a million dollars over last year for a total of $14.05 million. No one acknowledged items had been moved to the county’s budget from the schools’ requested budget, like a new school bus and new drainpipes behind the middle school.

Another detail none of the full funding advocates shared was the continuing decline in school enrollment to an estimated 1,074 for 2018-19 (in 2000, we had 1,296). When stating concerns about possible increases in class size, no one said how many teachers we have either. A state site with Virginia Department of Education school pro...