WJCC Approves $132 Million Budget

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board approved its $132 million budget for fiscal year 2012 on Tuesday.

The board unanimously approved the budget in a special call meeting directly following its work session. The budget, as approved, included revisions presented at Tuesday’s work session.

The revised version of the budget incorporated the impact of the Virginia General Assembly’s approved budget. The first draft of Superintendent Steven Constantino’s budget was based on Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed budget amendments, which would have cut funding from the division. The General Assembly budget increased the division’s state funding by $928,870, however.

The administration recommended putting the $928,870 toward teaching positions, adding two high school positions, three middle school positions and eight reserve positions. Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Scott Burckbuchler noted reserve positions are often used to meet demand for special education services or to balance enrollment at the elementary level.

The GA also recommended lower-than-expected rates for employer contributions to the Virginia Retirement System, saving the division $500,000. The administration proposed putting the savings toward VRS costs, but reviewing mid-year to see if the funds could go toward purchasing one-time bus replacements. If the buses were purchased, the administration would like to investigate alternative fuel options, such as propane buses.

With the budget’s passing, the board has approved the closure of the Academy for Life and Learning, a $570,000 program focused on helping struggling seventh- and eighth-grade students to succeed. Although its 46 students have said ALL improved their grades and behavior, the board members felt that it didn’t serve enough students. The division will instead add student achievement coaches to its middle schools, for an estimated cost of $300,000.

The board also unanimously approved the revised six-year Capital Improvements Plan, which removed previously proposed additions to Berkeley and Lois Hornsby middle schools. The administration had proposed the additions to alleviate predicted overcrowding at the middle school level, but the School Board members and their funding partners in Williamsburg and James City County dismissed that idea. Trailers will instead be used to house students until a full fourth middle school is needed.

In its revisions, the administration added $8.3 million for all the projects necessary to reopen James Blair Middle School, including the costs to remove temporary walls put up to convert the building to an administrative office. The added projects were put down as placeholders for the 2017 CIP because the projects have not gone through the full CIP review process yet. Burckbuchler emphasized that not all of the upgrades are required, but all are recommended to bring the school into equity with the division’s other middle schools.

Board Vice Chair Ruth Larsen emphasized the need to have a vision for the administration’s exit from James Blair. “We have all of this right now as a placeholder in 2017, but if there are things we can start doing now to work towards that date, we need to have a vision for how we’re going to move,” she said.

The approved budget grants a 1 percent raise across the board, but reduces the longevity pay supplement awarded to long-serving teachers. Shortly before the budget proposal was released, Evergreen Solutions, LLC delivered a compensation study that recommended giving raises, but also recommended the board phase out its longevity pay scale.

The compensation also recommended exploring a pay system that would reward performance and noted that younger teachers are being paid below market value, while experienced teachers are being paid above market value. The board members expressed interest in exploring both recommendations further, but not in this budget cycle.

Denise Koch broached the controversial topic of performance-based pay, noting Evergreen didn’t give any suggestions on how to implement such a plan. “I can see how the public has some problems when people are compensated just for putting another year in,” she said. “In our division, we have some very good teachers that may need to be recognized and I hope the board will continue to look at that and discuss that.”

Before the budget had been approved, the board received some negative feedback from city and county leaders, and from community members. At Tuesday’s school liaison morning meeting, Mayor Clyde Haulman said he was disappointed in the way the division handled the closure of James Blair. He objected to the way the entire project, including reconversion and refurbishment costs, was added to 2017, saying it made the project seem more expensive than it is. “This debate has been going on for a very long time,” he said. “I just have a problem with the way you guys have handled this.”

James City County resident David Jarman, who regularly makes budget recommendations to the board and administration, advocated for broad changes to the pay structure and expressed disappointment, via e-mail to board members, that the budget did not go further.

“I do not hide my view that this school board and school administration have shied from directly addressing the question of how to modify the current compensation system to achieve the end of improved student performance,” Jarman wrote. “Major reform is traumatic and difficult to implement correctly. But, that is no excuse for maintaining a structure that is not working.”

He proposed setting a three-year objective to move off the step system to a system that rewards performance and immediately introducing a bonus system payable at the end of the year to teachers exceeding specific objectives defined at the beginning of the school year.

To see the approved budget, click here.