Harrisonburg schools shift superintendent’s budget to information item amid state and federal funding uncertainty

Harrisonburg City School Board members on April 10 heard a detailed update on the superintendent’s recommended budget and agreed to treat the plan as an informational item while staff and the board refine options.

Superintendent Doctor Richards and finance staff described changes since a March draft: a lower enrollment projection, revised city revenue expectations, a list of capital commitments from the city and a menu of potential reductions to meet the city’s requested level of reductions.

Nut Graf: The board will return to the budget at a forthcoming work session and public hearing after staff develop more detailed options. Board members emphasized concern about teacher pay, special-education support and the operational impacts of cuts while acknowledging city council’s stance against new taxes.

What staff presented

- Revenues and city commitments: city staff indicated capital commitments including about $3,600,000 for unspecified capital projects, $2,500,000 for MTC renovations, and roughly $1,100,000 for HVAC and roofs. City council’s draft actions included an increase in the local appropriation of $1,460,000 (roughly a 3.09% increase compared with the prior year), according to district staff.

- Enrollment and state/federal uncertainty: staff reduced the projected average daily membership by roughly 25 students, a drop they estimated would lower state revenue by about $225,000. They also flagged unresolved state budget issues (a governor/staff dispute over removing a support cap that could change district funding and could represent up to about $700,000 in uncertainty) and federal-grant ambiguities for Title II/III funding.

- Personnel and raises: the superintendent proposed maintaining a needs-based budget that prioritizes required positions and special-education support while proposing an average raise target around 4 percent, with lower-paid staff receiving higher increases. Because of municipal-level choices, however, the board discussed a potential compromise in which most teachers would receive roughly 3 percent while city employees receive 4 percent — a difference several board members said could harm teacher morale.

- Proposed reductions (menu approach): to meet the city-requested savings, staff proposed not funding seven new FTEs this year (a middle-school trainer, three additional special-education leads reduced from a planned six to three, an administrative assistant in central office, a maintenance technician, and a high-school testing coordinator). The draft also included scaled-back stipend increases and smaller operating-line reductions. If the board accepted every proposed reduction on the menu, staff estimated about $907,000 in savings — roughly the amount city staff requested.

Board concerns and next steps

Board members pressed staff for more detail about how many positions could be hired, the likely effect on service delivery and which cuts could be deferred. Multiple members urged protecting special-education supports and expressed a priority for salary competitiveness with neighboring divisions. One board member urged staff to seek alternatives that would spare classroom and support positions rather than salary reductions.

Superintendent Richards and staff agreed to return to the board at a work session with more detailed comparisons and with a proposed decision path. The board asked for a public hearing on the budget and said it would weigh options for increasing pay (including whether a 4 percent average can be found while minimizing FTE cuts) before finalizing a recommendation for city council.

Representative quotes

“We will take care of our students,” Richards said when asked what the district would do if the regional MTC relationship changed — a remark staff used to reassure families during budget uncertainty about program continuity.

Joel Francis, the board’s attorney, and finance staff also flagged several legal/administrative constraints — such as required local matches for certain state-funded positions and the timing of state/federal grant decisions — that limit the district’s flexibility in some areas.

Ending: The board converted the superintendent’s recommended budget from an action item to an information item, asked staff for a revised menu of options and scheduled a future work session and public hearing to finalize a recommendation for city council.