Funding from the Commonwealth for K-12 education has dropped over the past seven years. This drop has shifted the burden of responsibility for education in Albemarle and other localities to local taxpayers’ property taxes. If per pupil revenues from the state had remained flat over this time period, Albemarle County Public Schools would have no funding gap in the 2015-16 funding request because we would receive $3.8 million in additional state revenues for FY16. This is not the case. The current revenue gap for the school division is $2.7 million. Read more of the Superintendent’s February 16 blog post »
Category Archives: Budget
Budget Update
Dear Colleagues:
Many of you know the school division budget proposal for 2015-16 includes a 2.3 percent pay for performance salary increase for classified staff and an average 2 percent increase for teachers, effective half-way into the new year.
In remarks to the media this week, School Board Chair Ned Gallaway spoke for all of us when he said compensation was the top priority in next year’s budget. Continue reading
2015-16 Superintendent’s Funding Request
Did you miss the Superintendent’s 2015-16 Funding Request presentation to the School Board on January 15? It’s not too late! Tune in now:
Visit the 2015-16 Budget Development web page to learn more and get involved.
Budget Priorities Survey – Respond by Dec. 4
Budget planning for the 2015-16 school year is underway, and your feedback is an essential part of the process! You are invited to participate in a brief survey concerning Budget Priorities as we prepare the Superintendent’s 2015-16 Funding Request, which will be presented to the School Board in January 2015. The survey will close at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 4. Participate in the survey »
Special Town Hall Meetings to Discuss Five-Year Financial Plan
From mid-November through mid-December, there will be several town hall meetings conducted by members of the Board of Supervisors, who will be discussing the recent Five-Year Financial Plan – Combined. The plan includes the financial outlook for general government, capital improvements, and schools, and it will be used in the development of the respective budgets beginning next year. Continue reading
School Board Makes Preliminary Decisions to Eliminate Deficit
Dear Colleagues:
The School Board, at its budget work session last evening, made preliminary decisions that eliminated the $3.89 million deficit in next year’s funding request. While some of these actions are subject to change, the Board will formally adopt a budget for the 2014-15 school year at its April 24th meeting.
The two actions that will have the greatest impact were to reduce the employee compensation increase for next year from two to one percent and to implement a class size increase of .2 students for all grade levels. Continue reading
Budget Message
Dear Colleagues:
After several tie votes this morning, the Board of Supervisors set the 2014-15 real estate property tax rate at 79.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, representing a decrease of .9 cents from the advertised rate. This reduction from came entirely from money that had been dedicated to the school division under the advertised rate of 80.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
This action by the supervisors nearly doubles the deficit the school division faces in next year’s proposed budget from the advertised rate’s $2.4 million to what is now $3.9 million. Continue reading
Budget Update
Dear Colleagues:
Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you enjoyed time with family and friends. Between now and the last day of school on June 12, time will seem to fly. With more than the typical number of inclement weather days we’ve experienced this winter, I know we all feel the importance of maximizing academic learning time for quality learning each and every day. Learning is at the heart of our work. Having said that, I would like to take this opportunity to update you on some current events at the state and local level that will impact our work. Continue reading
Budget Update
Dear Colleagues:
Last evening, the School Board signaled their support for sending my funding request to the Board of Supervisors with no change. The School Board will take a formal vote at their February 13 meeting. They also will include in their resolution, a list of potential expenditure cuts that would be considered if the request is not fully funded once we receive final state and local government revenue numbers. Continue reading