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Interim superintendent asks Accomack supervisors to fund teacher pay adjustments and other priorities in FY26 request
Summary
Dr. Jack, interim superintendent for Accomack County Public Schools, presented an FY26 local funding request emphasizing teacher pay-scale decompression, a proposed 3% across-the-board increase plus market adjustments and several personnel and one-time capital needs; he said the system faces an estimated $1.5 million operating shortfall.
Dr. Jack, interim superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools, presented the school division's FY26 local funding request to the Accomack County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 26, calling attention to a compressed teacher pay scale and a package of personnel and one-time needs.
“Under our proposal ... an average 8.7% increase for all teachers,” Dr. Jack said, describing the request as a 3% across-the-board pay increase plus a market adjustment targeted at experienced teachers who have been most compressed by years without pay increases. He said the adjustment aims to retain long-tenured staff amid a national teacher shortage.
Dr. Jack described an estimated operating budget of $74,000,009.77 and said the division’s current projected shortfall is about $1,500,000; he differentiated that from proposed one-time capital purchases that the school board plans to fund from reserve/carryover rather than operating revenues. The one-time items discussed included building repairs (gyms and roofing), playground equipment, bus awnings and other capital maintenance. He noted school building projects are being paid from cash reserves, not bonds.
Personnel and program requests listed by Dr. Jack and the school board include a 3% increase for bus drivers, classified staff and administrators; raising the minimum classified pay to $15/hour (already implemented); an additional counselor to serve virtual and home-based students; converting part-time athletic director roles to full-time at two schools; activity stipends to coordinate after-school programs; and an additional school nurse at one elementary school.
Dr. Jack also described workforce and education partnerships tied to spaceport activity, including an MOU with Eastern Shore Community College to develop technician curriculum, and an internship pipeline that the authority sometimes hires from.
Board members discussed school resource officers (SROs). County staff and the Sheriff’s Office had been working on funding additional SROs; the county indicated it could encumber $100,000 toward SRO onboarding and that the sheriff had reassigned other patrol positions and deferred an animal-control position to help cover costs. Dr. Jack said final staffing decisions rest with the school board.
Dr. Jack said the school board approved the proposed budget with the teacher-scale adjustments and that some additional elements will be discussed at the next school board meeting. He emphasized retention and compensation as top drivers for teacher satisfaction and retention, along with student behavior.
