Virginia Beach School Board hears state budget update; considers pay and tutoring funding

Crystal Pate, the division’s chief financial officer, told the Virginia Beach School Board at an April workshop that the state budget was not finalized and that school funding decisions remain contingent on the General Assembly and the governor’s actions.

Pate said the General Assembly would reconvene for a special session on April 23 and that the governor’s deadline had been April 13. She said a central point in negotiations is whether to speed the phaseout of data-center tax exemptions — a move the presentation estimated could generate up to $1,000,000,000 in state revenue and affect K–12 allocations.

Pate outlined administration recommendations for how the division would use additional state funds if they materialize. Those priorities include continuing PAYGO-funded services and All In grant programs that expire June 30, 2026, with preliminary allocation estimates: approximately $700,000 for chronic-absenteeism initiatives, $5,000,000 for high-impact tutoring and $1,200,000 for the Virginia Literacy Act. She also listed human-resources proposals and estimated costs: increasing the annual professional-development reimbursement (estimated cost $214,000 if raised from $1,000 to $2,000 per employee), updating part-time pay rates (about $3,300,000), aligning educational allowances with neighboring divisions (about $1,900,000) and raising additional-duty supplements (about $300,000).

"At this time, the state budget has not yet been finalized," Pate said. "We are planning based on estimates with the understanding changes may occur once the budget is adopted." She told the board the division would provide more detailed breakdowns and a deeper tutoring update in the May presentation.

Board member Miss Rogers asked whether raising entry-level teacher pay would "roll through" and unintentionally raise later steps on the pay scale. "I want to make sure we're not just increasing that, but we would roll it through," Rogers said. Chair Kathleen Brown responded that how increases are applied depends on final funding and asked Human Resources to advise whether only certain priorities (for example, items 1 and 3 on the recommended list) could be funded if resources were limited.

A board member addressed as Jermaine asked for specifics about the high-impact tutoring program — who it would serve and how tutoring staff would be arranged. A staff member said the tutoring targets students with significant gaps in core elementary content, is delivered in before- and after-school settings and can pay division staff for after-hours tutoring; staff committed to provide a more detailed staffing and allocation breakdown ahead of the May board presentation.

Near the end of the workshop the board recessed into closed session. A motion to enter closed session cited exceptions in the Virginia open meetings law to discuss (1) acquisition or disposition of public real property where open discussion would hurt bargaining position, (2) consultation with legal counsel and briefings related to actual or probable litigation, and (3) legal advice on specific matters. The motion named Jericho Road property and pending litigation as topics. The clerk announced eight ayes on the vote to go into closed session. After the closed meeting, the board certified that only lawfully exempted matters were discussed and the clerk recorded nine ayes on the certification vote.

The board recessed at 5:31 p.m. and said it would return at 6:00 p.m.