Superintendent Aaron Spence sent the following email to all staff Thursday, May 21, to outline the major updates for the SY 2015-16 budget:

In a workshop session at this week’s School Board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Farrell Hanzaker provided a briefing on City Council’s recent adoption of an operating budget for 2015-16 and what this means for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

I am pleased to note that Mr. Hanzaker’s overview covered some very good news. Specifically:

• School employees will receive what amounts to a 4 percent salary increase which will be implemented in two stages. First, effective July 1, a 1.34 percent adjustment will be provided to offset the required employee contribution into the Virginia Retirement System. Second, an additional 2.66 percent increase will be effective Oct. 1.
• Additional funding totaling $4 million will be provided to reduce the school system’s reliance on year-end reversion funds. In explanation, using one-time funds to address recurring expenses is a practice VBCPS needs to avoid, if at all possible. This additional funding will help greatly in that regard.
• Also, an additional $2 million was allocated for the purpose of addressing equity issues on the Unified Scale.

As you are aware, this was my first time participating in the budget development process for VBCPS. I was impressed at the commitment of our elected leaders at the city and school level to ensuring that employees receive an appropriate salary increase. Addressing this need was paramount for them, and the end result demonstrates that commitment. In addition, many employees on the Unified Scale will benefit in the future as we work to improve this salary scale.

While we still face financial challenges that will require our best effort and thinking in the years ahead, I am pleased that we were able to achieve so many positive goals in this year’s budget.  I am also thankful for the work of our budget and finance staff as they tirelessly took input from Senior Staff, our employees, our colleagues in city government, and our community and crafted this budget with me.  I firmly believe the end product reflects our city’s commitment to education and to you, our employees.  Our community clearly understands that VBCPS has offered them a fine return on their investment in K-12 education.