Charlottesville schools staff Thursday presented a balanced $81.6 million funding request to the city School Board.
The request is a $2.9 million, or 3.7 percent, increase over the current $78.6 million budget. Per-pupil spending is expected to pass $17,000 next year, a budget presentation showed.
The spending plan, which includes $731,000 for a 2 percent average raise for staff, is balanced on a pledge of $2 million in increased funding from the city, $653,000 from the state and $14,000 from a 5 percent increase in out-of-district tuition.
Documents presented Thursday showed that Charlottesville teachers are paid in about the middle of the top quartile of the highest-paying divisions in the state. Starting salaries in the city are below those in Albemarle, but they overtake the county by the tenth year, the report showed.
Staff pay raises come alongside a $614,000 bump in the division’s contribution to the Virginia Retirement Service and a 10 percent, or $436,000, jump in health insurance costs. The spending plan does not include any new programs or significant additions to existing programs, city documents showed.
After discussion at a Jan. 14 work session, division staff rescinded a recommendation to pull funding for Advanced Placement test fees. The $77,000 line item was reintroduced after pushback from the board.
