Superintendent presents budget with 3% across‑the‑board pay proposal; board approves 5‑year CIP, naloxone policy and easement for north‑end siren

Heidi Ratliff, superintendent of Colonial Heights Public Schools, presented the division's proposed budget and capital plan and asked the board to set work‑session dates and review requests for staffing, equipment and maintenance.

The proposal includes a 3% increase for all employees tied to the state's Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding and, Ratliff said, "If we're gonna give SOQ people 3%, we're gonna give everybody 3%." She and staff estimated that the 3% proposal would cost "a little over a million dollars." Ratliff also warned of a sharp rise in health‑insurance costs, saying the division currently faces a projected 23.7% increase for the coming year and noting a three‑year average increase of about 10.6%.

Why it matters: The budget presentation lays out the division's revenue assumptions (state, local, federal and other sources), staffing priorities and capital requests that will feed into the city's overall budget process. Ratliff emphasized the division's guiding principle: "make every decision based on what's right for kids," and said the school system's memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city is an important stable revenue source.

Key points from the presentation

- Compensation and benefits: The proposal uses the state's 3% SOQ increase as the baseline and extends 3% to all employees; staff estimated the cost at a little over $1 million. Ratliff and finance staff described a recent alignment of pay scales (30‑step scales) that will require continued funding.

- Health insurance: The division is self‑insured and staff said recent claim costs will require increased employee contributions; Ratliff presented a projected 23.7% rate increase for this year and said the division will explore plan design and vendor options to mitigate the impact.

- New or adjusted positions requested: additions to ESL and special education staffing, a new middle‑school math teacher, and converting two half‑counselor positions to full positions (Lakeview and the middle school) to address mental‑health needs.

- Capital, maintenance and technology: Requests included school buses, instruments for the middle school, maintenance projects (paving and machinery), inclusive play equipment for Lakeview, and E‑rate funded networking/fiber work. Ratliff said the total operating budget is "a little over 65 and a half million dollars." Troy (finance staff) described funded projects (high school entrance/offices and fine arts switch gear, tech center HVAC work using wall/ground units at a substantially lower cost than an initial $4,000,000 estimate) and a list of unfunded projects.

- Capital improvement plan (CIP): Troy told the board the school division currently lists more than $20,000,000 of unfunded projects that the city and schools will need to prioritize and fund over time. Specific unfunded items identified in the board packet included a cell‑signal booster, high‑school commons and dining/food‑prep improvements, athletic enhancements, an elementary music and art room addition, an auxiliary high‑school gym, and tennis/pickleball court resurfacing.

Votes at a glance (items…