Pittsylvania County school leaders map $58 million in capital priorities and press for higher pay

Dr. Mark Jones, presenting for the Pittsylvania County school division, told the joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board that 100% of county schools are fully accredited and highlighted state recognitions and career-technical programming as reasons the division is asking for more local funding.

The presentation laid out capital priorities to be paid primarily from the 1% local sales tax approved by voters in December 2022 and collected beginning July 2023. Jones said the division raised about $3.6 million in the first year and estimates roughly $68 million over 19 years. He listed three near-term priorities that together could consume the sales-tax stream: security vestibules and gym attachments at 14 schools ($6.3 million); HVAC and window replacements at five older elementary schools ($30.9 million); and a 12-classroom addition at Kentuck Elementary ($6.5 million). Jones said those first three priorities total about $58 million and that inflation and construction costs have increased estimates since earlier planning.

Why it matters: the sales-tax proceeds were marketed to voters for school capital improvement; if the first-phase projects exhaust initial revenue or financing capacity, school leaders said the county will face tradeoffs between building repairs, new classrooms and other needs such as program expansion at the Pittsylvania County Technical Center (PCTC).

Jones also described instructional and career-technical investments the division has made: converting elementary computer labs to STEM innovation labs, Career Connections labs in middle schools, and Advanced Manufacturing and Health Sciences academies for ninth and tenth graders. He told the boards that the division has multiple pathways that allow some graduates to leave high school with significant college credit.

On capacity and projected growth, Jones reviewed a planned residential development in the Axton/Stone Mill area that the division estimates could generate 1,800 housing units and between about 650 and 1,300 school-age children. He said current space at Stony Mill, Tunstall Middle and Tunstall High totals about 842 available seats, so the low end of the estimate could be absorbed while the high end would require rezoning, additions or other accommodations. Jones said the division has begun site work at Kentuck and has started HVAC/window projects at Stony Mill and Union Hall.

On the operating budget, Mrs. Worley presented the school division’s view of state revenue proposals and the division’s local funding request. She said the governor’s budget proposal would add roughly $1.8 million to the division for the coming year; combined house and senate adjustments would add about $2.1 million more, including restoring the support cap and a special-education add-on. Worley said those proposals include a 3% increase for SOQ (Standards of Quality) staff and that the net effect would raise the local minimum appropriation the county must provide from about $24.6 million to about $25.2 million (an increase of roughly $602,000). The school board’s official local-request package totals about $3.6 million in additional local funds for the 2026 school year; the board’s prioritized list of supplements and one-time items was roughly $7.5 million.

School leaders repeatedly urged the supervisors to consider pay increases to retain staff. Worley said, “For the school division, a 1% salary increase for all staff costs about $800,000.” School board members told supervisors many support positions — bus drivers, custodians, mechanics and other classified staff — are paid well below neighboring localities and that the division is losing employees. School board member Shields said educators are leaving for higher pay elsewhere: “When you're talking 8 to 12,000, they're going elsewhere, gentlemen.”

Supervisors and school leaders discussed funding options without reaching a final decision. Several school board members said additions and capital projects funded by the 1% sales tax are already earmarked; operating increases for salaries and ongoing costs would require additional local revenue or reallocation of county funds. Chair of the Board of Supervisors said the county will pursue expense reductions and other budgeting steps during the formal budget process but also warned that large new projects such as an athletic complex would take many years to plan and fund.

No formal funding decisions or appropriations were made at the meeting; the discussion closed with both bodies acknowledging further work in the upcoming budget cycle.

Ending: County and school officials said further budget work will follow in the weeks ahead as the county prepares its fiscal-year proposals and the school division finalizes its local-request package.