Teachers lined the hallway of York Hall to greet the Board of Supervisors and School Board members Tuesday as they gathered for their annual joint work session.
The teachers, joined by members of the Parent-Teacher Association, wanted to convey the need for compensation increases. Based on the discussion between the boards, it seems their concerns were heard.
Budget estimates for the county and school division don’t include firm estimates for federal or state funding, but both governing bodies anticipate budget gaps. York County could have a shortfall of $3.3 million, including a possible $2.9 million to cover the school division’s shortfall. County Administrator James McReynolds said an equivalent tax increase would be 3.77 cents.
The Board of Supervisors didn’t make any promises regarding funding, but Chairman Walt Zaremba said, “We expect to maintain a premier school division, but we’re concerned with the burden on our taxpayers. As always, it’s a balancing act.”
Superintendent Eric Williams has yet to present a proposed budget to the School Board, but has provided preliminary estimates of the division’s anticipated revenues and expenditures, based on the numbers available.
The division’s new expenses include $2.6 million to cover a 20 percent health care cost increase, $1.5 million to provide a 2 percent market adjustment (including possible state funding) and $1.2 million to provide a salary increase matching a 4 percent increased retirement contribution from employees. Williams said the division has also found $1.8 million in savings, including $1.2 million saved when employees retired or left the division.
Last year, the state required local employees to begin contributing 5 percent to their retirement funds; since 2010, new hires have already contributed that amount. Localities and school divisions were given the option to either phase the required contribution in over five years in 1 percent increments or require the full 5 percent in the first year. Either way, the boards were required to offer an equal or greater salary increase to offset the new requirement.
Williams made a case for increasing required Virginia Retirement System contributions by 4 percent, with a slightly higher salary increase to offset the expense for employees. He said the majority of Virginia school divisions instituted the full 5 percent increase for the current fiscal year, putting York County at a recruiting disadvantage when interviewing new employees.
After hearing his presentation, supervisor Sheila Noll asked why York County Schools hadn’t provided the full 5 percent increase for its employees, noting the county had done that for its workers. Williams reminded her the board had wanted to do that, but was unable to do so because the Board of Supervisors required the school division to stick to terms spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier in the budget process.
When the School Board requested an additional $3.9 million in funding last year, the Board of Supervisors agreed to provide the funds, but only if the boards signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) requiring the school division to give the county any state funding above $150,000 that became available after their budgets were approved. At the time, the School Board believed the county was only going to provide its employees with the 1 percent incremental increase. Ultimately, the supervisors decided to give the full 5 percent salary increase.
When the school division discovered it would receive close to $800,000 in additional funding, the board drafted a letter to the supervisors asking to keep the funding specifically to provide the 5 percent increase. The School Board wanted to do the same, partly because its pay scale for non-licensed employees was modeled after the county’s — a 20-year effort to prevent employees from jumping from the school system to work for the county and vice versa. Read more here.
On May 21, 2012, Barbara Haywood told her board that then-Chairman Tom Shepperd had said the supervisors couldn’t support breaking the MOU.
The School Board has said its primary funding goal this year is to increase teacher’s take-home pay for the first time in five years. Teachers haven’t received salary increases or step increases in that period.
On Tuesday, they brought assignments to grade while they waited for the boards to arrive. Some held signs attributed to colleagues who couldn’t attend the meeting because they had to go to their second jobs. Carol Bauer, president of the York Education Association, said some of those second jobs include stocking grocery shelves, working at Burger King, tutoring, teaching gymnastics and summer jobs at Busch Gardens.
Elisabeth Brantley, a special education teacher at Yorktown Elementary School, said she supplements her income by tutoring and facilitating an online class for Johns Hopkins University. She said many co-workers are the breadwinners for their families, and need a cost-of-living increase, especially during a period when many spouses have been laid off.
Pam Gaspard, a first grade teacher at Tabb Elementary, said she has been the breadwinner since she was widowed 12 years ago. Five years with no increases have meant five years of putting off home repairs and a car replacement because she can’t spare the money for a monthly car payment. In the meantime, she said her workload has increased, along with her class sizes. Both Gaspard and Brantley said a step increase is much-needed, along with the proposed 2 percent salary increase. Read more about compensation options.
In his pitch to the supervisors, Williams said stories like theirs “tug at our hearts,” but said increasing salaries is a strategic decision above all else. “In order to attract and retain the best staff, we need the compensation,” he said. “We’re close to having a train wreck without it.”
Supervisor Don Wiggins noted York County’s schools were recently ranked in the top spot for the region by Hampton Roads Magazine. “We all realize people move into York County because of the schools, and we appreciate that,” he said.
The School Board is scheduled to adopt a budget on March 25; state statute requires a budget be delivered to the Board of Supervisors by April 1. The Board of Supervisors will host a budget public hearing on April 25, and is scheduled to adopt a budget on May 7.
