No promises made on school money request

New Kent School Board chairman Joe Yates gave county Board of Supervisors members a few seconds to digest the schools’ requested 13 percent increase in local money for the next school year. It’s unclear, however, if supervisors developed an immediate case of collective heartburn.

School officials presented their $27 million fiscal 2008-09 budget proposal to supervisors during a work session yesterday (Tuesday) morning. The request includes just over $10.9 million in county dollars, a figure that is almost $1.3 million higher than the $9.7 million schools received for the current year.

Most of the local money increase is aimed at improving New Kent’s position when it comes to attracting and retaining qualified teachers. The county ranks last among 15 Richmond-area school divisions, including Charles City, King & Queen, and King William, when it comes to paying first-year teachers.

“We’re not attracting the quality we need to attract because of our starting salary,” Yates told the supervisors.

Schools are proposing an 8.1 percent salary hike for first-year teachers and a 9.9 percent raise for returning teachers. In all, teacher salary increases account for $985,000 in new money.

If approved, a first-year teacher in New Kent would earn $35,877 next year compared to the current $33,174. But assuming other school divisions in the region give 4 percent raises next year, New Kent would still trail the pack.

Supervisors appeared sympathetic to schools’ efforts to become more competitive in teacher recruiting, but most pointed to limited revenue that only stretches so far.

District 2 Supervisor Marty Sparks told school officials he wants to see a more detailed budget proposal.

“I support a lot of what’s in here, and we’ve got to get teacher salaries up, but this is a big increase,” he said.

“This is no surprise,” District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis said when asked afterward about the hefty local request. “But where is the money going to come from?”

District 1 representative Thomas Evelyn said he plans to consult with his district’s School Board member, Stacy Simmons, to get her take on the budget proposal.

“That’s a lot of money, and it will take a lot of study, but we’ve gotten behind on teacher salaries. The teachers need it,” he said.

Supervisors’ chairman Jimmy Burrell said cuts elsewhere in the county’s overall budget would have to be made in order to fund the entire school request, otherwise county taxpayers could be looking at a substantial tax increase.

“On the surface, it appears [school officials] are justifying what they’re asking for, but we face what we’ve faced many times in the past and that’s a shortage of revenue,” he said.

“The biggest challenge before us is to see how to slice up this pie,” he said. “It’s probably the largest challenge I’ve faced since I’ve been on the board.”

In their presentation, school officials noted that 81 percent of the total budget request, just over $21.4 million, entails salaries and benefits. In addition to teacher pay raises, schools are proposing an 8.7 percent pay hike for teacher aides (paraprofessionals). All other school employees, including administrators, are slated for a 4 percent pay raise.

Yates told supervisors that New Kent’s teacher aides are in worse shape salary-wise than any other employee group when compared to other school systems in the region.

The overall $27 million proposal is almost $2.7 million more than the current year’s $24.4 million budget. Accounting for the most of the increase is $1.1 million in employee salaries.

Operating costs for the new high school and new vehicle maintenance facility add an estimated $550,000 in new expenses. Then, school officials have included 13 new instructional positions in the budget proposal at a cost of $493,000 and have made “market adjustments” to the tune of $383,000 in anticipation of rising fuel, insurance, and instructional supply expenses. Also penciled in is $171,000 for expected price hikes in technology.

“I think [supervisors] will help us the best they can,” Yates said afterward. “We know it’s trying economic circumstances, but they know teacher salaries are lagging.”

The School Board is holding a public hearing on the proposed budget during its regular meeting next Monday (March 3) at 7:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium.