The Gloucester School Board adopted a $112,754,153 total budget for fiscal year 2021 during its March 12 work session at the T.C. Walker Education Center. The budget was adopted 6-1, with board member Darren Post casting the only opposing vote.
The budget presented for the board’s consideration would require a $3,755,512 increase in local dollars for the school division’s operating fund, down from the just over $7 million increase originally proposed by division superintendent Walter Clemons.
The $3.7 million increase includes a 3 percent raise plus a step on the salary scale for teachers and a 2 percent hike for other employees. In his budget planning, county administrator Brent Fedors is only recommending a $1.4 million budget increase for the school division, including a 2-percent raise for all staff.
Although four school board members proposed minor changes to the budget, board member Troy Andersen suggested they just adopt a total funds amount of $112,754,153. “Otherwise, we could sit here all night,” he said, and the board agreed.
The total amount includes $2,792,461 for the central food service fund and $3,492,152 for the debt service fund. The board did not set an operating fund figure for FY21 or a figure for capital improvement projects. Together, those four funds make up the total budget.
In the budget considered by the board, the operating fund would have been at $65,537,063, up from the current operating budget of $61,832,240, and the CIP fund would have been $40,932,477, up from the current CIP fund of $6.9 million.
The CIP increase is due to planned renovations at Gloucester High School and the new transportation facility to be located on the Page Middle School campus. Final costs for the projects have not yet been determined.
The school board was scheduled to meet with county supervisors on March 17 but that meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 response and has not yet been rescheduled. Supervisors are scheduled to adopt a budget on April 13.
Although the budget discussion was the only item on the March 12 meeting agenda, the first hour of the meeting was dedicated to possible COVID-19 response measures.
The board authorized Clemons to make March 16 a professional day (no school for students) and to cancel any activities outside of the regular instructional day.
Those measures were superseded by Gov. Ralph Northam’s March 13 announcement that cancelled school and related activities for two weeks beginning March 16.