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Charlotte County schools ask supervisors for continued local matches and help covering rising insurance costs
Summary
School leaders told a joint meeting of the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors and School Board that enrollment held near 1,600, that the division ranks first in Region 8 on SOL results, and asked supervisors to sustain local matches and consider $90,000 to offset employee health-insurance increases.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY — School leaders told a joint meeting of the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors and the county School Board on an evening meeting that state funding uncertainty, rising health-insurance costs and recent shifts in expected solar revenues are central factors shaping next year’s school budget.
“We're number 1 in Region 8 in all academics, and that's because of our faculty and staff,” School Board Chairman Hamlet said, arguing the county’s schools are a selling point for families and businesses. He thanked the board of supervisors for past support, including the 1% local sales tax for schools.
The superintendent (speaking at the joint meeting) summarized the division’s fiscal picture and specific requests to the supervisors. Average daily membership this year is about 1,600 students, slightly higher than the division’s budget estimate, and the division plans conservatively to build next year’s budget on roughly the same enrollment. The division proposes a 3% pay increase next year for staff and for Standards of Quality (SOQ) positions; last year the division provided a 5% raise for teachers and 3% for other staff.
The superintendent described two budget pressures: a roughly $300,000 increase in total health-insurance premiums for the division and a remaining compensation gap of about $300,000 when combining this year’s and next year’s raises. “We do hope to be able to help with a portion of that increase,” the superintendent said, adding the division currently estimates that the employee share of the premium increase would amount to about $90,000 unless the county offsets it.
The superintendent asked supervisors to continue local matching funds that unlock state dollars, saying, “If we don't have a local match, we're leaving all these pots of money over here that the state provides us.” He also asked supervisors to consider an additional contribution specifically to reduce employee premium increases.
School leaders highlighted facilities and program investments: security vestibules installed at Central Middle School and Eureka, ongoing HVAC and chiller replacements across the division, use of school fuel tanks by county emergency vehicles (with the county reimbursing fuel), and the division’s role as fiscal agent for Virtual Virginia courses and Canvas-related contracts. The superintendent said the division received recognition this year — Macon District Elementary was one of 93 Virginia schools singled out for high achievement — and Randolph-Henry students earned more than 200 industry certifications through technical-education courses.
On state funding mechanics, the superintendent described the SOQ rebenchmarking process the General Assembly uses and a recent amendment to remove a cap on support-position funding; he said removing that cap could be worth about $400,000 to the division next year. He emphasized that although the state provides supplements tied to raises, local matches and ongoing local contributions remain necessary to sustain compensation increases.
The county’s assessor, identified in the meeting as Mr. Pearson, will present reassessment findings to the board on March 26; reassessment notices are scheduled to go out April 1. County staff and school leaders said work sessions and public hearings on the county budget are planned: a county work session and the school public hearing are scheduled for April 16, and the school budget is due to the county by May 1. The superintendent said the division will do its best to submit figures to the public on schedule while some state amendments remain unsettled.
The joint meeting did not include a formal vote on the requests. School leaders framed the $90,000 figure and other figures as current estimates contingent on final insurance numbers and the governor’s action on budget amendments.
Ending: The boards scheduled follow-up budget work sessions and a reassessment presentation in the coming weeks; supervisors will consider the school requests as they finalize the county budget.
