The Caroline County Public School Board unanimously approved the 2016-17 operating budget at their Feb. 8 meeting. At $45.7 million the plan calls for an increase of roughly $2.9 million in spending to support raises for personnel, restore staff positions and add classroom resources.
The demands of a cutting-edge school are not cheap, and overzealous limitations on school budgets lead to disappointing results.
“Unfortunately, since 2010 Caroline County Public Schools lost significant ground due to reductions in funding at both the state and local level,” said Superintendent George Parker, III, Ph.D.
State funding, on a per-pupil, inflation-adjusted basis has decreased from $4,275 per pupil in 2009 to $3,655 per pupil in 2015.
“While school localities around the Commonwealth increased spending to meet the increased demands on our schools and changes in student population, local funding in Caroline County was reduced by $1 million in financial year 2010, and remained relatively flat over a five-year period,” Parker said.
In 2016 Caroline County ranks 117th out of 134 localities in Virginia for funding public education above the required amount determined by the state. Caroline County spends 35 percent above the state RLE (required local effort), while the state average is 84 percent.
Several nearby public school systems pay more than CCPS, and although teachers’ contracts call for annual experience raises, the system is three steps (years) behind in meeting those agreements. Administrators are paid five steps below their experience levels. This has caused many to find work elsewhere.
“As a result of turnover, currently 60 percent of CCPS school principals and 43 percent of CCPS teachers have five years or less employment experience with the school division,” Parker said.
He added that the inability to retain competent teachers and administrators causes a negative impact on student achievement.
As teachers grow in experience, important aspects of their duties, such as classroom management and addressing different learning styles become second nature, resulting in more time on task for students.
“Currently two of our five schools have failed to meet full state accreditation requirements for the 2015-1016 school year,” he said, “Efforts to improve student achievement have been hindered by the lack of a robust professional development program for teachers as well as reductions to spending on instructional materials and textbooks.”
Parker stresses the importance of closing the pay gap between local schools and higher-paying school divisions elsewhere in the area. Of the 309 teachers employed by CCPS, 204 live beyond the county lines.
“Only a third of our teachers reside in the county,” he said. “Therefore, I would question any arguments against maintaining a regionally competitive salary.”
The budget includes $1,270,394 to adjust employee salaries by placing each employee on the correct salary step, while providing for an annual step increase. In addition, it places an emphasis on allocating $221,576 to increase the number of teacher assistants in kindergarten and first grade, which will restore some of the instructional positions that were cut in previous years.
An estimated $706,909 increase in state funding, based on the governor’s proposed budget, is also part of the bottom line.
On Feb. 9, the Caroline County Board of Supervisors and School Board held a joint meeting with discussion of the CCPS proposed operating budget for 2016-17 as part of the agenda.
While BOS supervisors are in favor of improving Caroline schools, the dialogue about the budget included some negative ideas, such as comparing Caroline teacher pay with that of much more sparsely populated King and Queen County.
However, in closing comments, both boards ended with support for a much closer working relationship. Both share the goal of making Caroline County Public Schools a premier school division.
-CP Correspondent Kenneth Snow
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