by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Fredericksburg City School Board members on Monday said they were not comfortable with the idea of approving a budget with a gap between revenues and expenditures of more than $4 million.
The board unanimously voted against approving the operating budget proposed last week by superintendent Marci Catlett, with revenues in the amount of $54.1 million and expenditures in the amount of $57.8 million.
Instead, the board voted to postpone accepting the budget until the division receives an updated revenue projection from the state of Virginia.
“How can we approve a budget that’s not balanced?” asked Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay.
Catlett said that “If we had to balance the budget, we wouldn’t be able to communicate what the needs are.”
She explained that her budget was developed based on feedback from board members to “convey true transparency in terms of all of our needs,” which are exacerbated this year by the expiration of pandemic relief funds, the increase in the division’s local composite index (a measure of the locality’s ability to pay for public education), and a lack of clarity into how much state funding the division will receive.
“It’s now time for us to meet with City Council and the finance team to see how they will receive what we’ve asked for, and hopefully come to some agreement in terms of the amount of money they will allocate, with the unknown of what the state is going to provide and knowing the amount will be less (because) the LCI is higher,” Catlett said. “These are the challenges and opportunities we face going forward.”
Kay said she feels that instead of presenting a budget with a gap, the projected revenue should reflect the ask from City Council.
Jennifer Brody, the division’s chief financial officer, said some of the gap will likely be filled by increased revenue from the state.
The General Assembly is in the process of negotiating the state budget for the 2024-2026 biennium, and it is likely to be more supportive of public education than the budget proposed in December by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
But Brody told School Board members on Monday, “We don’t know where [the funds to fill the gap are] going to come from. Some of it will be state money, but at this point we just don’t know.”
Brody said there is some indication that the state will provide school divisions with more information about funding “this week.”
The School Board unanimously approved Kay’s motion to “postpone acceptance of budget until we have received accurate numbers from the state,” though it’s not clear when that will be.
Board members said they might need to reschedule the April 2 joint budget work session between City Council and the School Board.
Catlett’s proposed budget is available for viewing at the division’s website.
