Increasing employee compensation ranks high among the Williamsburg-James City County School Board’s priorities for the next fiscal year budget.
The board members met with WJCC administrators for a budget retreat Saturday morning to begin considering options for increasing compensation. The board also discussed several proposed projects — all tied to goals spelled out in the strategic plan adopted last year — that will need funding in the next budget.
It’s too early to know how much federal, state and local funding the school division will receive, but Chief Financial Officer Scott Burckbuchler estimated the division could anticipate revenues of $113.4 million. The estimate includes a 0.9 percent increase in local funding, with a projection of $8.3 million from the city of Williamsburg and $76.9 million from James City County. State figures were based on Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed amendments to the state’s two-year budget.
WJCC faculty and staff have not received salary increases or step increases in several years. McDonnell has proposed the General Assembly provide funding for 2 percent raises for state-required instructional personnel, provided the GA also passes the Educator Fairness Act. If the GA approves McDonnell’s proposal, WJCC will receive a state share of $360,000.
WJCC’s administrators and school board members agreed Saturday that it wouldn’t be fair to offer a salary increase only to the teachers required by the state’s Standards of Quality. To extend the increase to all of the division’s teachers, it would cost $820,000. To extend the 2 percent increase to all employees, it would cost the division $1.6 million.
“I’ve never been a big fan of treating employee groups differently,” said Superintendent Steven Constantino on Saturday. “I don’t think we send a good message by looking at one group of people and saying, ‘We’re going to give you a raise.’ Everybody is valued.”
The division and board would like to consider going 1 percent further, giving employees 3 percent salary increases. In addition, the administrators said it might be time to restructure WJCC’s salary schedule. Employees are paid based on their education and years of experience, with salary increases divided into “steps” like steps on a ladder. Each step increase is 2.5 percent.
On the current salary schedule, employees with zero to four years of experience are on the same “step.” That’s become a problem, according to Jon Andre, director of human resources. Because teachers haven’t received step increases in several years, new teachers make the same amount as teachers with four years of experience and continuing contracts. It has made the division less attractive to experienced teachers, Andre said.
Instead, the administration would like the board to consider separating some of the steps, possibly by creating a step for teachers with one to two years and another step for teachers with three to five years.
Salaries will also be influenced by the board’s decision on state-mandated employee contributions to the Virginia Retirement System. Last year, the General Assembly required local employees and school personnel to begin contributing up to 5 percent to their retirement plans, while requiring employers to provide an equal salary increase to offset the new burden. WJCC opted to phase the increase, beginning with a 1 percent contribution offset by a 1.4 percent salary increase.
Now, the board will have to decide if it wants to continue to phase in the contribution, or institute the remaining 4 percent contribution requirement, offset by a 4.56 percent salary adjustment. If the board is able to fund a 3 percent salary increase, along with the 4.56 percent salary adjustment, teachers’ salaries would increase by 7.56 percent, but would require a 4 percent contribution to VRS.
The board also discussed funding estimates for initiatives that, according to the adopted Strategic Plan, need to begin in the next two years. These included:
- $40,000 to implement a division-wide satisfaction survey for staff, students and parents;
- $15,000 to implement a diversity recruitment plan for faculty and staff (the cost would include travel expenses to historically black colleges and more);
- $45,000 to partner with the North Star organization, which aims to improve process management and find an equal amount of savings;
- $94,500 in technology upgrades to enable students to use their own technology in class;
- $12,000 for additional servers and licenses to create a teacher portal, which would be akin to a Facebook for teachers to connect and share ideas throughout the division;
- $7,000 to implement a new evaluation model, piloted with principals.
- $250,000 to find a new student information system; the division’s current model, Starbase, was purchased by a company that does not plan to support it in the future.
The board will host a public hearing today to gather input on what should or should not be included in the 2014 budget. The public hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Stryker Building.
