County school budget presented during the first “public meeting” on the budget Feb. 23

Prince William County School officials say the board will need to identify a combination of $17.5 million in spending cuts and revenue enhancements to pay for the initial 2015-16 school budget presented during the first “public meeting” on the budget on Monday night, Feb. 23.

The proposed spending plan would cover the cost of current programs and services, adjusted for inflation and increased student enrollment. “These are in the proposal because – after years of refining – they reflect what our schools and students actually need,” said Superintendent Steven Walts, introducing the proposal. “And they deliver the level of service our community expects.”

Walts also outlined two additional items included in the budget at Board direction and reflecting his own shared priorities: Reducing class sizes and improving employee compensation.

The proposal would fund reducing ninth-grade algebra I and II and geometry classes by an average of one student at all 11 high schools. “It provides for the next step in our slow and strategic effort to cut class sizes,” said Walts.

“This budget will invest in improving compensation to better attract and retain the best teachers and staff to equip our children for a brighter future. It will provide for a one-step pay increase for all employees, at a cost of $18 million,” Walts added.

Twice delayed by weather-related meeting cancellations, the proposal breaks with previous budgets by including both specific School Board spending directives and a deficit. The School Board authorized the unusual approach in response to Board of County Supervisors’ budget guidance that would eliminate $11 million from 2015-16 PWCS funding previously included in the BOCS five-year plan. The measure would slash school funding by $113 million over four years. Members of the BOCS recently questioned whether the full cuts would be implemented, but county school officials say they must prepare for the worst.

At the Feb. 4 School Board meeting, several members were opposed to suggestions to cut all day kindergarten and specialty program transportation to help close the gap.

Instead the Board directed the superintendent to prepare the unbalanced budget along with a list of all programs that could be considered for cuts because they are not required by state or federal law. Items on the list are considered “strategic options” because they originally became part of the budget in support of the PWCS strategic plan for student success.

A Budget Proposal and Challenges Fact Sheet distributed at Monday night’s meeting details both budget elements and the funding shortfall that puts PWCS spending ability below neighboring school divisions. 
 
Upcoming School Board meetings will feature work sessions to evaluate and modify staff spending proposals.

Board members have been invited to meet with the Board of County Supervisors to discuss the school budget at noon, Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department, 7190 Yates Ford Road, Manassas.

The BOCS is scheduled to vote on the tax rate the county will advertise at its March 3 meeting. Once established, the rate that generates the county’s contribution to school funding can be lowered, but not increased.

Walts said the School Board faces an “unenviable task” to reconcile the proposed budget with available funding.  “It will be especially difficult because what some see as luxuries, are true necessities for others,” he added. “This discussion and the process seem focused strictly on dollars, but in the end, they are really about what we can provide for our students, and how we can support the people and facilities that will help them to succeed.”