No raises in proposed Chesapeake schools budget

CHESAPEAKE

Teachers and other school employees don't need to worry about layoffs or furloughs in the coming academic year. But they should expect slightly larger class sizes, stagnant salaries and smaller tuition reimbursement checks.

The $374.7 million operating budget Superintendent James Roberts proposed Monday includes a patchwork of trims that together cover a projected $48.6 million shortfall.

The division would lose 21 positions - including 10 teachers - through attrition under Roberts' proposal for the 2012-13 school year. Two assistant principals, likely the most recent hires, would shift from working 12 months to 10 months, effectively a pay cut.

"This is not a solution I ought to be presenting to my board," Roberts said in an interview. "This is a Band-Aid" to help the division through hard times.

The spending plan is $2.7 million - or 0.7 percent - more than the current operating budget. That's largely due to a 47 percent increase in contributions to the Virginia Retirement System that the division faces under the governor's state budget proposal. That move alone would cost Chesapeake schools an additional $13.7 million.

Tweaks to how public education is funded at the state level have eroded even the most basic support of schools, Roberts told the School Board before presenting his budget proposal Monday night.

"I am not proud of the document that you have before you," he said.

Under Roberts' plan, classes would gain an extra student, perhaps more depending on the program and school. Tuition assistance for employees pursuing additional training would decrease to $50 from $100 a credit hour.

Teachers would no longer receive supplemental pay for performing hall supervision and cafeteria duty during their planning periods. Also, instead of two tiers of pay, all instructors involved with after-school remediation would be paid at the lowest rate.

Employees would maintain their current salaries with no bonuses on the horizon for 2012-13. Everyone received a 0.5 percent pay raise this school year, but that was the first increase since 2008-09.

The plan also includes the elimination of an accelerated-learning program for middle-school students who are falling behind. The program, which the division considers a dropout-prevention measure, serves about 60 students a year.

Costs as "inconsequential" as postage and paycheck printing were reviewed to arrive at a balanced plan, said Vicki Lucente, assistant superintendent for budget and finance.

"We still can't figure out how we got here," she told the board. "There was a point in January where it appeared completely impossible."

The board will review the proposal, and possibly adjust it, in the coming weeks before sending a budget to the city. Already, members have suggested that Roberts develop a plan that shows the actual needs of the division so the public and city leaders can understand the challenges faced by the schools.

In 2008-09, for example, the division had a budget of $428.7 million. Enrollment has dropped by about 500 students, but that decline doesn't make up for the difference in today's budget. Many routine purchases - buses and classroom furniture, for example - have been canceled since then.

Besides replacement equipment, Roberts noted other items he would include in the ideal budget. Among them, full-day kindergarten, salary increases and expanded alternative education, distance learning and preschool programs.

A public hearing and work session on Roberts' budget proposal is scheduled for Thursday.

Hattie Brown Garrow, 757-222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com