During the York County School Board’s first discussion since they learned they would receive about $2.1 million less than requested of the county, the board members reiterated their support for providing a compensation increase for school employees.
Superintendent Eric Williams presented the board members with some potential cuts to the school board’s proposed budget as well as options for reworking a proposed compensation increase for school employees to save money.
After reviewing the options, the board members asked Williams and his staff to look through the budget to try to find other items to cut to preserve the compensation increase as it is currently structured: the adoption of a new pay plan, a step increase and the restoration of a step increase skipped during previous years.
The potential cuts presented by Williams would leave the York County School Division with a surplus of about $72,000. To reach that point with the funding received from the county, the compensation increase would be restructured to eliminate the restored step increase, instead replacing it with a 0.8 percent across the board increase for licensed staff and a 1 percent across the board increase for non-licensed staff, leaving both pools of employees with an average increase of 3 percent.
“I think that’s a horrible message for us to send our employees who have stuck with us during these very difficult financial years,” said School Board Member Cindy Kirschke of that adjustment to the compensation increase.
That sentiment was shared by the other members of the board.
“This is something that we year after year have tried to do,” said School Board Member Robert George of a compensation increase with step increases. “Just because we don’t get the funding doesn’t mean we have to give up on what we felt so passionate about.”
Williams and his staff are now tasked with going back through the budget and looking for any potential cuts that can free up money for the compensation increase, which board members have said would be difficult because YCSD has already made cuts to its budget in recent years to shore up lost revenue from the state and increases in costs associated with healthcare and the Virginia Retirement System.
“As you think through this and as staff goes to work, do not bring something that is going to have a damaging effect long term,” said School Board Chairman Mark Medford. “I don’t think there’s going to be much to find.”
Williams proposed numerous potential cuts to make up for the deficit between the school board’s budget and the funding allocation received from the county, including the elimination of some proposed positions in the division such as three information technology jobs and a third social worker. YCSD would not be able to move to a 13-year textbook cycle under the proposed cuts, which also include cutting $765,000 of new servers and network equipment.
“This is an area of significant long-term concern even though we feel like we can make the recommendation given the limited resources and competing priorities,” Williams said of the recommendation to cut the server and network equipment, described by YCSD officials in recent months as one of the division’s urgent needs.
YCSD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Jarrett said the gridlock in Richmond surrounding the state budget, which is the largest funding source for YCSD’s budget, shows no signs of abating.
“There’s not a whole lot of discussions [between Republicans and Democrats in Richmond deadlocked over the issue of Medicaid expansion] going on right now, and that’s not a good sign,” Jarrett said.
He also offered some thoughts on next year’s budget process, saying federal funding could decline and funding from the county may not climb.
“The picture that is starting to unfold as we are looking out to [the next budget process] is that there won’t be a whole lot of new revenue available to look at new initiatives,” he said.
The budgets proposed by the various parties in Richmond — Senate Democrats, House Republicans, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former Gov. Bob McDonnell — contain varying funding levels for YCSD. The current YCSD budget numbers reflect McDonnell’s proposed budget. If a different version emerges, the division could be looking at a different funding level. For example, if the senate version is passed, the division could receive an additional $200,000 to $300,000 of revenue.
Williams said the board could be in a position of having to finalize the budget prior the state passing a budget. Should that happen, the board will have a chance to go back and tweak numbers once the state does pass a budget.
Monday’s work session featured little discussion on the one-time funding boost suggested by the York County Board of Supervisors. The supervisors said that money could be used to help YCSD deal with one-time costs. George said textbooks and a proposed bus replacement seemed to be the only non-recurring expenses in the budget.
The school board will next consider the budget at a 4:30 p.m. work session May 19. Williams said the earliest the board should vote on a new budget is June 2.
Related Coverage:
- York Supervisors Approve Budget; Taxes Remain Level to Leave YCSD Short About $2 Million
- York Supes: No Tax Rate Increase; One-Time Cash Infusion Could Help YCSD Budget Woes
- YCSD Superintendent: Supervisors Have ‘Grossly Oversimplified’ School Budget Issues
- York School Board’s Robert George Calls Out Supervisor Thomas Shepperd Over Budget Remarks
- YCSD Employees, Parents Rally for Higher Taxes at York County Budget Hearing
- York Supervisors: No Tax Rate Increase; Schools Need to Prioritize
- Parents, Teachers Talk YCSD Budget Issues at Community Meeting
- York Supervisors Face Impending Deadline on Whether to Consider Tax Rate Increase
- York School Board to Supervisors: Fund Our ‘Needs-Based’ Budget
- Proposed York Budget Keeps Taxes Level, Offers 3 Percent Raise for Employees
- York School Board Continues Work on Budget Despite Uncertainty About Local, State Funding Contributions
- York Superintendent’s Proposed Budget Asks County for 5.8 Percent Funding Increase
