From the Stafford School Board:
The Stafford County School Board adopted a $373,924,808 budget for the 2022-2023 school year on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. The budget invests $20.6M to begin the process of correcting the teacher pay scale. All teachers and licensed staff will receive between a 5.0-19.5% pay increase, the first step in correcting a salary scale that has been compressed over several years. The remaining budget focuses on responsible solutions concentrated in three key areas: Recruiting and Retaining Great People, Managing Growth, and Providing On-Time Transportation.
“Our Superintendent is laser focused on supporting our teachers, who are the core of the school division, and this budget clearly reflects that commitment,” said Ms. Patricia Healy, Stafford County School Board Chair. “It is encouraging to know that the Board of Supervisors also recognizes the importance of teachers and is working with us to best support our shared interest of hiring and retaining the best possible teachers for our students.”
“This budget directly aligns with the School Board’s adopted budget priorities from the fall of 2021 while accomplishing the board’s goals,” said School Board Vice Chair Susan Randall. “I am proud to support this budget and our teachers.”
In addition to the historic teacher pay increase, the budget provides an across the board 5% increase for service staff while accounting for growth management. Further, the adopted budget accounts for the recent increase in fuel costs and utilities such as electricity. The budget streamlines central office expenses to offset these costs, reorganizing existing staff and funding sources in order to better support schools directly.
“We are a school system of people, not of things,” said SCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor. “Studies show that excellent teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement. Prioritizing our most important asset allows us to provide competitive salaries, retain our great staff, and recruit new and innovative teachers into the division. I am grateful to the School Board and the Board of Supervisors for working together to move the needle tremendously in support of our teachers and students.”
The adopted budget presents an increase of approximately $32.4 million over the FY22 budget. For more information on the FY23 budget, visit the Budget and Planning pages of the SCPS website.
