School board gets first look at FY2008 budget
By Donna C. Gregory ASSISTANT EDITOR

Chesterfield County Public Schools' budget for FY2008 could top $566.5 million -- a nine percent increase over last year. Of that, the county's proposed share would be $246.2 million, an increase of $19.4 million over FY2007.

When asked if that might impact the board of supervisors' plan to reduce the property tax rate, Chairman Kelly Miller responded, "It certainly might. I don't know what the final tax rate is going to be, having not studied their budget."

The county continues to play a balancing act between trying to meet the needs of a growing school system while dealing with rising real estate assessments that have repeatedly hit taxpayer wallets in recent years. School funding typically accounts for slightly more than 51 percent of the county's overall budget.

The county is preparing its budget this year using a property tax rate of 99 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from $1.04 cents, but assessments grew at an average of 16.6 percent. About 66 percent of property tax revenue goes to the school system.

"I don't want to be unfair to the schools, but I want to make sure the taxpayers are going to get what they should get too," said Miller. "We try not to just rubber stamp everything, but we try not to be draconian about it either."

"The [property] tax rate is always an issue with which we have to be concerned," agreed Marshall Trammell, Bermuda District school board representative. "We're very cognizant as a board that we need to be good stewards of the money. We will work with the board of supervisors as they work to establish a fair tax rate, but at the same time, we will have to acknowledge to the board what our met and unmet needs are."

"I feel good about the budget," continued Trammell, "but again, now as a board, we have got to take our time to scrutinize it to make sure the allocations are in order of our priorities."

Big ticket items include a $13.4 million pay raise for teachers, $3.5 million for 60 new reading positions and eight new math positions, $2.2 million for 30 new special education teachers, $2 million to create "safety net" programming for at-risk students, and $1.9 million to fund the opening of two new elementary schools.

The four percent pay increase for teachers may not meet school board members' approval. FY2008 is the second year of a three-year plan to bring the county's teacher salaries in line with neighboring localities. And, although $13.4 million sounds like a huge leap in compensation, Trammell points out that other localities are giving their teachers raises as well.

"We're trying to see if we can actually improve the situation for our teachers," said Trammell. "We don't want to always say we're just holding our own."

Superintendent Marcus Newsome's budget includes several new initiatives including an alternative education program for middle school students. It would be funded with $2 million that Newsome has earmarked for "safety net" programming. While still in the conception phase, the remaining dollars would be used to fund additional programs to meet the needs of at-risk students.

Overall, more than 70 percent of the FY2008 budget will be designated for instruction. Less than three percent -- $15.2 million -- is spent on administrative costs.

The complete budget proposal is available for viewing at chesterfi eld.k12.va.us. The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget on Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the county's Public Meeting Room, located at 10001 Iron Bridge Road.