CCS School Board Budget Update
It's not too late to voice an opinion.
The Charlottesville City School Board is nearing the end of its budgeting process for the next fiscal year. The Board meets on Thursday, February 22 at Charlottesville High School from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to approve CCS Superintendent Dr. Gurley’s proposed budget, and then the City Council meets to hear the School Board Budget Presentation at 6:30 p.m. on March 5, at City Hall.
To simplify a long story as best I can, the City needed to come up with some $9 million to meet Dr. Gurley’s original budget request, but has decided to allocate only $6 million, leaving us a little over $3 million short. Dr. Gurley’s original budget proposal addressed important needs identified in collaboration with teachers and administrators throughout the school system, and without full funding, many of those needs will be insufficiently addressed. You can watch Dr. Gurley’s presentation of his amended budget here. Here are the slides from that presentation—slides 22 and 23 are of particular interest, in terms of what will be sacrificed without full funding.
We ask Dr. Gurley and the School Board to continue to press for the additional funding to meet all of the needs identified in the original budget proposal, and we ask the City Council to fully fund Charlottesville City Schools at a time of great need. Our children and our city deserve nothing less, and the city has the resources to make this happen. Below are the communications we are sending to Dr. Gurley, the School Board, and the City Council. The Johnson PTO encourages you to reach out in a similar fashion and express your opinion on the matter. Feel free to copy our letter and send it along, or just send a quick word of your own. The emails are linked in the letters below. Thanks!
To the Honorable Charlottesville City Council Members: Mayor Juandiego Wade, Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston, Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook:
We are writing to express our concern that Charlottesville City Schools will not be funded to meet the needs that have been identified by CCS Superintendent Dr. Gurley and the School Board in their 2024-2025 budget request. These are not arbitrary requests, but important needs as identified in conversation with teachers and administrators all over the city. Our understanding is that there is a discrepancy of some $3 million between the School Board's request and the amount the city has thus far agreed to fund. Charlottesville absolutely has the means to fully fund this budget request, and we ask the City Council to do so.
Line items in Dr. Gurley's budget proposal that are in serious jeopardy if CCS is not fully funded, and are of particular interest to the families and teachers of Johnson Elementary, whom we represent, include:
The need for reading and math specialists and interventionists at our elementary and middle schools. CCS continues to trail the state in proficiency across the board.
Increased funding for special education instruction.
Funding for site-based substitutes at our schools.
Increased funding for teachers who can support our growing English-learning population. Johnson has more than 60 English-learners, and more are expected.
Charlottesville, like the rest of the state and nation, continues to recover from pandemic learning loss that has affected us all and has had a disproportionate impact on our most vulnerable students, including especially our economically disadvantaged population, our growing segment of English-learners, and our children with special education needs. It is more important than ever that we fully invest in our schools to give our students the best possible chance to reach their potential before pandemic learning loss becomes permanent. Dr. Gurley's budget directly addresses these concerns, and represents a step in the right direction toward correcting this ongoing emergency.
We support the budget as originally proposed by Dr. Gurley, and ask the City Council to fully fund the School Board's original, needs-focused budget request. Our children deserve every opportunity we can afford to give them. Please vote to fully fund our schools.
Respectfully,
Johnson Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization Board
Laura Jordan and Jill McKinley, co-chairs
Stacey Gearhart, secretary
Bob Howard, communications
To Superintendent Dr. Gurley and the School Board:
Below is a letter we have addressed to the Charlottesville City Council in support of Dr. Gurley’s 2024-2025 budget as originally proposed. We are writing to encourage you to continue to press the city as best you can to fully fund Dr. Gurley’s original budget, as we believe addressing the needs identified therein is crucial to fully supporting all of our students. Thank you.
[Above letter quoted.]