Stacey Whitt and Shannon Grimsley
Rappahannock County Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Stacey Whitt, center, and Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley at Tuesday’s School Board meeting.
Rappahannock County Public Schools (RCPS) on Tuesday adopted a 2024 FY budget that would increase the county’s financial support by almost $550,000.
It would be the largest year-to-year bump in county funding in recent memory.
The proposed $14.6 million budget, approved unanimously by the school board, is actually about $862,000 lower than the current one. But a significant drop of almost $1.6 million in federal and state subsidies – much of it related to COVID relief or funding for specific capital expenses – would place a heavier financial burden on the county.
Other factors driving the money crunch, according to Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley, are a reduction in state funding due to the school district’s declining enrollment – at 741, it’s now more than 200 fewer students than seven years ago – and inflation’s repercussions, such as an almost 10% increase in health insurance costs.
In an interview, she also noted that while the flow of COVID-relief money has largely stopped, there are ongoing costs that come with addressing the pandemic’s impact on learning loss and mental health. That might mean providing more staff “intervention” to help students catch up academically, which could require special training for teachers, particularly those working with grade schoolers.
“Then, of course, there’s the mental health piece,” said Grimsley. “Everybody experienced some level of trauma. And there are a lot of things we need to take care of before real learning can even take place. So we have to deal with anxiety we’re seeing in students that we might not have ever seen before.”
Watch the School Board meeting:
Rappahannock County School Board Meeting, March 14, 2023
But maybe…
There remains, however, a possibility that the big spike in the county’s contribution to RCPS won’t be necessary. Last month, the Virginia House of Delegates unanimously approved a bill that would have removed a cap that has prevented RCPS from receiving more than another $1 million in a state subsidy. The cap has been in place since 2008, and currently affects only Rappahannock County.
But the Virginia Senate’s Finance and Appropriations Committee voted to shelve the bill, ostensibly because the General Assembly is waiting for the results of the long overdue study on the Local Composite Index (LCI), the complex formula used to determine how much money the state provides each public school district.
Still, while the cap remains in place, the House included more than $1 million in “supplemental basic aid” for RCPS in its budget. It’s still not known if and when that allotment will be approved by the legislature’s Conference Committee. If it is, the county’s contribution to RCPS will not increase in the upcoming budget, and instead stay at the current level of $8.9 million.
A tug of war?
The budget does reduce the staff by five and a half positions, puts off the purchase of two new school buses – at $120,000 each – and drops any school construction expenses. Plus, school district employees would have to cover 20% of their health insurance costs, and 30% for coverage for their families.
The budget also includes a 5 per salary increase for RCPS faculty and staff. But that’s lower than the 7% hike endorsed by the General Assembly, and considerably below the 13% hike given to Fauquier County Public School teachers for the current fiscal year.
If the state does come through with the additional $1 million, Grimsley said the first priority would be to raise salaries by 7% to keep pace with the goal set by the General Assembly.
Among 10 public school districts in the region, RCPS ranks next to last in the starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree ($45,000) and last for teachers with a masters ($48,500).
Grimsley acknowledged that the school district’s request for an additional half million dollars will likely bring more public scrutiny to both the proposed budget and RCPS itself.
“I’m sure that will happen. That’s why everything is going to be very transparent and people can see every line of the budget,” she said. “This is one of those situations where I’ll be in a tug of war because on one side, some of the staff aren’t going to be very happy with the increase in health insurance costs for them, and not receiving the size of raises teachers in other counties have.
“On the other hand, the community is probably going to be mad that the school district is asking for so much more money than last year. So, on one side, I’m going to hear that I didn’t do enough, and the other side will say I did too much.”
The school budget will now be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for its response.
