Teacher Pay, Class Size Weighed in Budget Debate

By Melissa Arseniuk

Thursday, March 20, 2008

If Loudoun County Public Schools freezes all staff salaries and increases class sizes by one student, the School Board will still fall far short of the $81.3 million it's been asked to trim from its spending request.

That was the message the School Board delivered to the Board of Supervisors last night during their latest budget work session.

"We're going to be faced with some serious choices to make," School Board Chairman Robert DuPree said. "I see no way ... to avoid a combination of increasing class sizes, eliminating cost of living adjustments for our employees, and programmatic reductions of what we currently offer."

The School Board included salary increases of about 3 percent in its FY09 plan. This pay hike added $30 million to the spending request. Meanwhile, increasing the size of every class at each grade level throughout the county by one student would translate into $7.3 million in savings.

Forgoing pay increases and adding an additional student to each class would translate into less than half of what supervisors have asked the School Board to cut.

"That's making your way toward $81.3 (million in savings), but it's a long ways from $81.3," Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III said.

The School Board asked for an increase of $103.8 million, or 15 percent, in the district's operating budget. If it trims $81.3 million from its request --- as the supervisors have suggested -- schools would get an increase of $22.5 million over the current fiscal year.

Starting salaries for Loudoun County teachers range from $43,065 (for a starting teacher holding a bachelor's) to $48,289 (for those with a master's). Those wages are $850 and $1,000 less, respectively, than the Fairfax County pay scale.

The highest possible annual salary for a teacher is $96,887 a year.

While Supervisor Jim Burton (Blue Ridge District) acknowledged that salaries were raised to attract and retain teachers, he took exception to what he called "very, very generous" teacher salaries.

"You have over 1,700 teachers making more than $75,000 a year, which is more than half the people in the rest of the county made in their tax returns for 2005," he said. "You've got over 550 teachers making between $88,000 and $94,000 a year. That's nothing to sneeze at."

Burton's assertions fell cool upon School Board officials, who made it clear that, in their view, freezing salaries is not a desirable option.

"Your predecessors on the Board of Supervisors ... decided we were no longer going to be the training ground for Fairfax's best teachers," DuPree said. "We set out on a very purposeful process of equalizing salaries, reducing class sizes, trying to make everything about teaching in Loudoun be at least as attractive as teaching in Fairfax. The effects were immediate: When salaries changed, the outflow stopped. We now hire from Fairfax, and we hire some very good teachers from Fairfax."

J. Warren Geurin (Sterling District) warned that "the magnitude of the reduction that you're talking about" will cause significant problems. "There will be unintended consequences," he said.

Hatrick said one of the consequences students and teachers should brace for is an increase in "combination" classes, such as dual-grade or split classes. He said while combination classes can presently be found in smaller communities like Aldie or Middleburg, they will soon become a reality across the entire school system.

That's because when enrollment in a certain grade level increases, the school board presently allocates funds for principals to add a class to accommodate the influx. But instead of adding a new, separate class, Hatrick said budget cuts will force the board to deny principals the additional funds, and instead tell schools to accommodate the shift without any additional teachers.

The superintendent delivered this message as the school system is bracing to absorb 3,270 new students this fall. The increase would bring the student enrollment to 57,317, and would require 558 new positions be filled, ranging from teachers to bus drivers to custodians. Hatrick also noted that the student population is expected to continue to grow at a rate of about 6 percent each year for the next five years.

"With 85 percent of our budget being people we employ, there's no way to (significantly reduce costs) without seriously impacting their pay, in the number of employees, which means class sizes," DuPree said.

The average class size in Loudoun County is 24.5 students in core subject classes like math and English. Current mandates require core classes to have no more than 35 students.

Beyond the salary freeze and an increase in class sizes, it was not clear how the remaining $43.8 million in budget cuts would be achieved.

The superintendent's forecast was grim.

"I would have to recommend to the board that we begin dismantling some of the programs that we have, not just trimming them back," Hatrick said.

Many supervisors expressed regret over the current financial crunch.

"I'm not sitting up here preparing to justify reductions in your increase request (based) on the theory that you guys are bloated and you don't need it," Supervisor Stevens Miller (Dulles District) said. "I'm going to justify it on the theory that times are tough, and we just don't have as much as we'd like to put into our very good schools."

That sentiment was echoed by board chairman Scott York (At-Large).

"I've supported the schools year after year," he said. "I'm just very concerned this year about several folks who are literally hurting."

Burton was less sympathetic and assured the School Board that they will survive and continue to thrive, even if their funding is considerably less than what they had hoped for.

"The amount of money we spend on the school budget is not the sole determinate of a quality school system," he said. "Clearly, it's an important factor, but it should not be the only factor that we talk about and that we think about."

Like many supervisors, Burton said he has received a lot of feedback from his constituents concerning the School Board budget. He said many of the calls, letters and e-mails frustrate him after they shame him and his fellow supervisors for even thinking of not fulfilling the school board's request for funding.

"I get a little upset when people accuse us of sacrificing the children if we even think of reducing your request — not reducing the budget from last year, but reducing the size of your request — and that that's going to have a horrendous effect on the future of the children," he said. "It's rhetoric that doesn't help."

Photo: Melissa Arseniuk

Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III and school officials discuss the school district's budget during a work session earlier this month with the Board of Supervisors.

The Board of Supervisors has asked the School Board to trim its budget in order for the cash-strapped county to achieve a $1.10 tax rate next year. After last night's work session adjourned, however, Supervisor Kelly Burk (Leesburg District) motioned to adopt a higher tax rate of $1.15. While the late-night motion was originally seconded by Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (Potomac District) and immediately opposed by Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (Sterling District) and Burton, it was withdrawn after the chairman requested dramatic debates be held next week, when the board will resume discussions on Tuesday.

Supervisor Lori Waters (Broad Run District) rounded out the post-School Board discussion by asking Benjamin Mays, the county's deputy finance officer, how much, if any, county proffers could be used to finance the School Board's request.

"In that school pot of $5 million, I think we can get some money out of that," he replied. "I think there is some ability to get some out of that ... We'll get as much as we can find."

County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers released a $1.2 billion county budget proposal on Feb. 11 that included $850 million for school board operations. While Bowers' proposal gave the School Board an $81 million increase over last year, it was significantly less than what school officials had been asking for.

The School Board expects about $30 million in funding from other sources next year. While local transfer funds represent 73.8 percent of all school funding, the remaining financial support comes from state funds (23 percent), federal funds (1.5 percent), local tuition, fees and other sources (1.7 percent).

Tagged: Board of Supervisors, budget, high schools, LC Board of Supervisors, school board, schools

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