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Charlottesville City Schools presents FY26 budget draft with teacher pay changes, EL staffing and transportation issues
Summary
Charlottesville City Schools staff presented a draft FY26 budget that reflects recent collective bargaining outcomes for licensed staff, shifts in state aid driven by the Local Composite Index and staffing requests for English‑learner services, transportation, mental‑health supports and recruitment.
Charlottesville City Schools staff presented a draft FY26 budget that reflects recent collective bargaining for licensed staff, changes in state funding formulas, proposed additions to English‑learner staffing, ongoing transportation challenges and a set of personnel and program requests intended to address student needs.
Doctor Gurley (Superintendent) introduced the presentation and thanked finance staff for their work. The presentation noted a seven‑year revenue trend showing the city remains the division’s largest funding source, and that changes to the Local Composite Index (LCI) have reduced the state share of the Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding. Staff said the LCI rose to about 77.02 percent, lowering state aid to roughly 22.9 percent of SOQ revenues; staff also reported an estimated additional $538,553 in state revenue tied to technical changes in the governor’s proposed budget.
On compensation, presenters summarized the division’s recently negotiated licensed‑staff collective bargaining terms. Staff said the teacher step structure was standardized to a single 1.5% increment across steps (a one‑time cost to correct uneven prior steps) and that the contract includes a 4% general raise for licensed staff; support staff are proposed to receive a 3% increase. Staff described an updated health‑insurance premium projection of a 6% increase, yielding about $585,000 in additional cost in the plan after mid‑process revisions.
The budget draft also includes program and staffing requests: three additional English‑learner (EL) teacher positions to meet revised SOQ requirements (staff calculated the division is required to have about 28.57 EL FTEs and currently budgets 26; staff proposed adding three FTEs with an estimated cost of $284,646), additional reading and math specialists to deploy under a differentiated staffing model, a recruitment specialist to support hiring at all levels, and steps to bring previously one‑time mental‑health positions (clinical social workers and school mental‑health professionals) into recurring funding.
Staff outlined transportation cost drivers and a plan to reduce reliance on third‑party contracted special‑needs transports by hiring more in‑house van drivers and shifting spending from purchase‑services to payroll over time. Miss Duvall, the transportation coordinator who has been invoiced through the city while transitioning to the school division, was cited as an example of operational changes in process; staff said Versatrans and PowerSchool integration is now under the division’s control. Trustees asked for detail on current vacancies, pipeline hires and how many drivers classified as 30‑hour positions are regularly driving more than 30 hours.
The presentation also described a local decision to offer retention payments for Walker school staff during the reconfiguration: licensed staff were told a $2,000 retention payment is recommended and support staff $1,000, with Superintendent Gurley saying she would move forward with the recommendation and that placements for licensed staff would be announced in stages. Gurley framed the broader budget as built to meet student needs and noted she would continue to press the city for CIP support for facilities priorities.
Board members asked for follow‑up reporting on city contract line items, multi‑year trend reporting to test whether contracted city services are delivering the contracted level of service, and a budget‑vs‑actual report to track purchase‑services versus payroll shifts in transportation. Doctor Gurley closed by reaffirming the division’s commitment to inclusive curriculum and student safety, stating, “Our curriculum has not changed. It is not going to change,” while acknowledging community concern about recent executive orders.
No formal votes on the FY26 budget occurred at the meeting; staff asked the board for authorization to continue negotiations with the city and to return with revised numbers at the next scheduled budget work session.
