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Preliminary budget: Virginia Beach schools report $45.2M in staff funded above state formula and $36M in unfunded mandates
Summary
CFO Crystal Pate walked the board through positions the division funds beyond the state Standards of Quality (SOQ), associated costs, and a list of unfunded mandates as the board begins budget work for FY2026.
In a Jan. 28 administrative workshop, Crystal Pate, chief financial officer for Virginia Beach City Public Schools, presented a preliminary operating-budget overview that quantified staff funded above the state's Standards of Quality (SOQ) and summarized costed unfunded mandates the division expects to cover locally.
Pate told the school board that Virginia Beach funds roughly $45.2 million in positions beyond what the state provides under the SOQ. Those locally funded positions include library-media assistants, assistant principals, clerical staff, counselors, technology-support technicians and instructional technology specialists, elementary resource teachers (art, music, PE) and reading specialists. The division also presented an unfunded-mandates estimate of approximately $36 million for fiscal year 2025.
The figures matter for the FY2026 budget because the division must balance service levels and local priorities against constrained resources and a state funding model the staff described as dated and inadequate for current needs.
Pate cited a JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) finding that Virginia's SOQ underestimates the number of staff and the true cost of compensation the division requires. The presentation itemized the division's locally funded positions and estimated costs:
- Library-media assistants (LMAs): 54 FTEs above SOQ; cost approximately $2,500,000. - Library-media specialists (LMS): 2.5 FTEs above SOQ; cost approximately $254,382. - Assistant principals: 83.5 FTEs above SOQ; cost nearly $10,000,000. - Clerical support: ~214.1 FTEs above SOQ; cost approximately $14,100,000. - School counselors: 57.1 FTEs above SOQ; cost approximately $5,600,000. - Technology support (TSTs and ISTs): 68 positions above SOQ; cost approximately $5,300,000. - Elementary resource teachers (art, music, PE): 54.2 positions above SOQ; cost approximately $5,000,000. - Reading specialists: 24.6 positions above SOQ; cost approximately $2,400,000.
Pate said the total cost of these additional supports is about $45.2 million and reiterated that some state standards recently changed — specifically, reading-specialist staffing rules tied to the Virginia Literacy Act — which increased local obligations.
Pate also reported vacancy and revenue items relevant to budget planning: as of Jan. 17 the division had 58 instructional vacancies; the division projects an overall revenue increase of roughly $30.1 million for FY2026 versus the amended FY2025 budget, with about $9.7 million of that increase attributable to state revenue changes in the governor's proposed budget and state sales-tax estimates.
Board members asked for clarifications and next steps. Miss Melnick said the division should make the list of unfunded mandates public so the community understands the portion of the budget that is constrained by state requirements. Doctor Robertson and staff asked board members to provide priorities to guide allocation of new revenues; staff requested input by Sunday, Feb. 2 so the superintendent's estimate of needs (SEON) can be drafted by Feb. 4 for a Feb. 11 board presentation.
Pate closed by reminding the board that several reductions were adopted in FY2025 after the city's 2-cent cut to the real-estate tax rate, and noted where staffing changes were made to balance prior budgets. No formal action was taken at the workshop.
