After heated sessions of both the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and the Stafford County School Board earlier this week, the groups were slated for a joint meeting this afternoon to continue working on the fiscal year 2025 budget.
That meeting is no longer happening.
Just after 11 a.m., the Free Press received a copy of an email from board of supervisors Chair Meg Bohmke to school board Chair Maureen Siegmund. The email stated that “BOS members and county administration staff watched the most recent video of the school board meeting and witnessed several pointed comments, followed by a vote on Elementary 19.
“Additionally, the questions exchanged in advance of the joint meeting do not constitute a substantial agenda focused on the budget process. For these reasons, we are canceling the joint board of supervisors/school board meeting scheduled for today at 4 p.m.”
Bohmke also wrote that she suggests both bodies take the time “to regroup and digest decisions of the boards over the last few weeks. Hopefully, after this period of reflection, we can decide how to re-engage each other and move forward in the best interest of Stafford County residents.”
The school board will instead meet at 4 p.m. in the school board chambers (31 Stafford Ave.) instead of at the county’s Parks and Recreation Department building.
“I was not aware of the meeting being canceled prior to receiving Supervisor Bohmke’s email around 9:30 this morning,” school board chair Maureen Siegmund wrote in an email to the Free Press. “I’m deeply disappointed that not only did the BOS pull out of this meeting so close to its scheduled start time, but that the County Parks & Rec Department would also rescind our meeting space.
“Our board has important topics to discuss around our FY2025 budget and our school’s capital & maintenance needs. We will continue to put forth a good faith effort to meet with the supervisors and develop a budget that satisfies both the counties’ and the schools’ priorities. We just hope that the Board of Supervisors will acknowledge how important the schools are to the community.”
