Spotsylvania School Board Begins to Wade into the Budget

by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT

Hiring and maintaining quality teachers is the Spotsylvania community’s highest priority when it comes to the school division’s budget for next fiscal year, according to the results of a recent survey.

Eighty-eight percent of respondents to the budget survey said teacher recruitment and retention was their top priority. The second highest priority was keeping class sizes small (the top choice of 43% of respondents) and the third was providing support services to struggling students (38% of respondents).

Nine hundred and thirty-two people responded to the survey, which was open from January 22 through January 28, interim superintendent Kelly Guempel told the School Board at Monday’s budget public hearing and work session.

Of the 932 respondents, 77% were parents of students in the division, 14% were teachers, 7% were other staff members and 1% were administrators.

The community also said that funding instructional materials and a lower teacher-student ratio are of top importance in the budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1.

If budget cuts are necessary, the vast majority of respondents said these should not come from funding for teaching or support staff positions.

Before being placed on administrative leave last week, division superintendent Mark Taylor presented his recommended $479.7 million budget to the School Board and at Monday’s work session, staff went through the budget in more detail.

Of the total budget, $417.7 million is for the operating fund, or the day-to-day operations of the school division. This is a $44 million increase over the operating fund budget for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.

The budget for all funds—the operating fund as well as capital projects, fleet service, food service, Governor’s School, the detention center and the regional adult education program—assumes $377.2 million in total revenue from the federal, state, and local government.

This leaves a $46.2 million gap between identified revenues and expenses.

The superintendent’s budget identifies $18.8 million in “critical operational adjustments.” These proposals include providing differential pay to special education teachers, of which there is a critical shortage; hiring a coordinator and interns to support economically disadvantaged students; and converting contracted special education paraeducator positions to full-time, in-house positions.

The recommendation of “differential pay” for special education teachers drew some criticism from some board members and at least one public speaker on Monday.

“I’m concerned about pitting employee groups against each other,” board member Carol Medawar said. “We’re all educating all our kids together.”

The budget proposes numerous investments in special education, such as funding 26 new paraeducators, 11 new teachers and seven new diagnosticians.

Several speakers on Monday said they have concerns about special education being blamed for the growing school division budget.

Adam Blosser, the parent of a special education student in the division, said he is beginning to hear people “speak about special education needs in a way that can feel dehumanizing.”

“There is no doubt that special education needs are significant, but sometimes we can forget that we’re not just talking about numbers on a page, but real children with real needs who are entitled to a free and appropriate public education,” Blosser said. “There was a time when public schools were not required to educate students with disabilities. Society pretended they did not exist. According to the law, those days are behind us, but in reality, those days still like to rear their ugly head. I urge you … do pit the needs (of special education students) against the needs of their non-disabled peers.”

Other proposed budget investments include 10 new reading specialists, as required by the Virginia Literacy Act; seven school counselors; five school psychologists; two school social workers; 10 English language teachers; a 5% cost of living adjustment and step increase for teachers; and the full operationalization of at least 80 teacher and paraeducator positions that are currently funded by one-time pandemic relief money.

Information about the budget is available at the school division’s website.

Correction

In Tuesday’s column “Filling News Deserts,” we incorrectly identified the tagline “Democracies Dies in Darkness” with the New York Times. It is, in fact, the tagline for the Washington Post. We regret the error.

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