Virginia Beach School Board looks at cuts as it votes Tuesday on next year’s budget
The Virginia Beach School Board is set to make tough decisions Tuesday — such as cutting open positions and not replacing older buses — as it votes on next year’s budget.
Division leadership proposed a $954.5 million operating budget, but the board is considering reductions in response to inflation and possible tax cuts. The board was uneasy about several recent proposals and asked the superintendent to present new suggestions this week.
Several measures were introduced early in the process including increasing the student-to-staff ratio, dropping Positive Behavioral Intervention Support coaches and shuffling some tutoring expenses to other funds. Some positions were frozen and school budgets were reduced by 5%.
Chief Financial Officer Crystal Pate told the board during the Feb. 6 meeting that there was little room for discretionary spending as many expenses are required or are being eaten by rising utility costs. Pate said further reductions could “impact personnel.” Superintendent Donald Robertson said during the meeting that the inflation rate is 3.4%; for last year’s and this year’s budgets to match “dollar for dollar,” the division would need an additional $11.4 million. The city council is also considering 1 to 2-cent reductions in real estate taxes. A 2-cent drop could result in a loss of about $5.7 million to the division.
At last week’s meeting, Robertson suggested a $100 fee for students who wanted to play sports and the board overwhelmingly disagreed and told him to look at other ways to balance the budget.
Recently community and board members have questioned the loss of fine arts classes at some schools. Robertson said at last week’s meeting that no programs or staff were getting cut because of budget. He said some electives — and some English, math and science classes — are being dropped at schools where enrollment is too low to fill those classes.
Board member Beverly Anderson wants to look at ways to trim expenses without impacting teachers or students too much. She suggested reducing the number of assistant principals in some schools. Division officials said there will be a job fair for staff whose positions are being dropped at one school so that they may transfer to another.
Robertson said he could consider the move of assistant principals. No matter what though, he stressed that the division isn’t cutting programs or teachers but, whatever decision is made, “there is a cost somewhere.”
The division could receive additional funding from the state. Pate said the money, if the board approves, could go toward an average of 3% raises to staff and reinstating some proposed cuts. This depends on the state budget, which will be voted on this weekend.
Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com
