Fredericksburg City Council Discusses How School Board Can Fill Budget Gap
Council considering suggesting use of school division's operating fund balance.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
There is a gap of about $1.9 million between what the Fredericksburg School Board has requested for next year’s budget and what the city manager’s budget recommends.
City Council is considering suggesting that the division use its operating fund balance to fill it.
City Finance Director Amanda Six told Council at at work session on Tuesday that the school division had about $3.9 million in its operating fund balance as of June 30, 2025, the end of last fiscal year.
“The city does allow the school division to hold an operating fund balance. That is not required by [Virginia Code] and is not consistent with what all divisions are given the opportunity to do,” Six said. “[That fund balance] is something that could be on the table for the schools to use to do some of the things they talked to you about.”
According to the School Board’s approved budget, the requested $2.7 million in new funding would support a 7% “compensation adjustment” for staff and the addition of two English learner teachers, one gifted education teacher, a career and technical education teacher, and three special education instructional assistants, among other new positions.
City Manager Tim Baroody recommended a 4-cent real estate tax increase for fiscal year 2027, which runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, and Council has advertised a 5-cent increase. The final tax rate, which will be set later this month, cannot go above 5-cents without Council holding a second public hearing on the budget.
Ward 4 representative Charlie Frye suggested that he would be supportive of asking the school division to use its fund balance to meet its goals for next fiscal year, saying that raising the tax rate “is rough on the citizens.”
Mayor Kerry Devine said the school division’s operating fund balance is “very healthy and is something they could use.”
She noted that the division is expecting an additional $300,000 in revenue from the state.
“Last week [at a joint meeting of the School Board and City Council] they also thought the $300,000 was a conservative estimate and that there may be additional money coming from the state,” Devine said.
Susanna Finn, Ward 3 representative, said she has concerns about asking the school division to use one-time funds for salary increases.
“I’m supportive of using [the fund balance] to offset one-time expenses, but for the ongoing operating expense of peoples’ paychecks, it makes me incredibly nervous that we would ask them to use one-time money,” she said.
Devine pointed out that “it’s unusual for a school division to have this operating fund balance in the first place.”
Six said that the school division’s budget for the current fiscal year—fiscal year 2026—included the use of about $1.4 million from the operating fund balance, but that the School Board’s budget for next fiscal year doesn’t propose use any of the fund balance.
City Council held a public hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget at a meeting following the work session. Five members of the public spoke or wrote letters asking Council to fully fund the school division according to its budget request, “including adequate funds to support [special education and English language learner] needs,” as Melanie Roth, an educator and parent of a special education student said.
According to City Council’s budget calendar, there will be a first read of the budget for fiscal year 2027, including the school division’s budget, next Tuesday, April 28.
The budget will be adopted on May 12.
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Steve Flanagan, During the Meet/Greets for Ward 3 School Board candidate SARAH STELMOK, 'consolidation' was mentioned by some residents, especially those who removed their children from FCPS to homeschool or send to area private/parochial schools.
[Note: BTW, SARAH is the stellar candidate who did not get in because of the Fred Dems 'endorsed' ballot/piece of paper handed out to voters at Early Vote and precincts who just vote party line. Rather than read about the stark difference between the Ward 3 candidates.
One person can make a difference in FCPS. and that's SARAH STELMOK, who has the skill set and brains to analyze budgets, spreadsheets, income/expenses, and from the get-go of her campaign took the FCPS policy manual and did a compare/contrast with several area and 'successful' school systems in Virginia to show that FCPS was 'outdated'. Her research and her comments at the school bd candidate forums gave others the motivation and courage to speak out].
Virginia JLARC/Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee has a 2013-funded report: 'Local Government and School Division Consolidation'. Understandably, residents and local 'elected' officials would express concern about LOCAL IDENTITY and control if an FCPS 'consolidation' were to be proposed.
Consolidated school systems in Virginia generally work to improve operational efficiency and expand educational opportunities, such as new, better-equipped facilities. However, studies suggest they often yield MINIMAL long-term financial savings for the state/locality and do not guarantee significant improvements in student performance, with some consolidations in VA resulting in higher costs.
Minimal Financial Impact: Data suggests that while local EFFICIENCIES may occur, net savings for the state/locality are minimal or unlikely, particularly over the long term, with some cases like Bedford County (near Lynchburg) potentially costing the state significantly over 30 years.
Operational Benefits: Consolidation often helps localities update facilities, as seen in projects like the Buchanan County new high school.
Academic Outcomes: Research on consolidation often shows "NULL or very small positive impacts" on student achievement, meaning that moving students into larger school districts does not necessarily lead to higher test scores.
What's going on in FCPS is questionable. and kudos to school bd members Andy Wolfenberger (Ward 1; public school employee now with Loudoun Co PS) who commented on his concerns with what is occurring in FCPS, as well as Molly McFadden, who attended a VSBA mtg, mentions the Supt self-eval process and 'stakeholders' survey. Watch it yourself: 4-13-26 school board recording on Regional Web TV (scroll down for the transcript). Yet you see the uneasiness in the rest of the board in even having this topic brought up.
Those two 'suggestions' have been ongoing in area school systems for decades. Not right that FCPS is so far behind on best practice.
Why did VSBA come in for an 'individualized' training in Fall 2025 and invite the new ones who had just been elected? Despite the impression that this was an open meeting, it turned into 'closed': Residents were not allowed to attend/observe this VSBA/Virginia School Board Assn training for FCPS school bd members. It was not recorded. Was it a 'corrective action' by VDOE/Virginia Dept of Ed?
Here's a crazy idea. Why don't we explore the idea of merging Fredericksburg City schools with Stafford County Public Schools. This would considerably streamline the administration, and reduce the overhead significantly. Do we really need this burdensome infrastructure for FIVE schools?