Stafford School Board Adopts $488.2 Million Operating Budget
Cuts required to balance revenues and expenditures.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
The Stafford School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1. But they bemoaned “the amount of red” in the budget summary—the red representing areas where staff made cuts in order to balance revenues and expenditures.
“I applaud everyone for all of their work and due diligence to put these numbers together, but the amount of red in here is disturbing to me,” said Hartwood representative Alyssa Halstead.
The School Board earlier this spring approved a $503 million operating budget, but the budget adopted on Tuesday totals $488.2 million. That includes $18 million in new funding from the state and $8.1 million in new funding from Stafford County—an amount that includes a projected $3.1 million from increasing the meals tax.
The meals tax proposal has not been approved yet and is subject to a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors on May 20.
In order to balance the budget, the School Board cut $890,000 from department budgets; shifted funding for the coordinator of professional learning from the operating fund to the grants fund; removed a proposed technology support position; and reduced the amount budgeted for fuel and software.
Staff identified $115,000 in annual savings from no longer leasing the warehouse on Blackjack Road, which the division purchased this week.
It was a priority of the School Board to be able to provide division staff the same salary raise as county government staff will receive. The adopted budget implements a 2.7% across-the-board raise—close to the 2.75% county staff will get—but it does not achieve Phase 4 of the School Board’s five-year plan to adjust salary scales to be more competitive with those in Prince William County.
“Schools north of us are offering a 6.5% increase,” said Griffis-Widewater representative Elizabeth Warner. “We can’t offer that. We don’t have the money. That just kills me. But we are doing the best we can.”
Falmouth representative Sarah Chase said she’s “very worried” about teacher recruitment and retention.
“My concern always is that we have a qualified teacher in the classroom, and I’m very worried that the 2.7% increase is going to result in attrition, people going north to Prince William or Fairfax,” she said. “I hope my worry is unwarranted, but Prince William giving 7% this [fiscal] year and 6.5% next [fiscal] year is pretty darn big.”
Also on Tuesday, the Board approved using $2.2 million in one-time carryover funds from fiscal year 2024 to purchase replacement Chromebooks for all middle school students; $200,000 to replace the oldest Chromebooks in use in the elementary schools; and $700,000 to replace the oldest desktop computers.
During a discussion about the Chromebooks at Tuesday morning’s work session, staff said the devices were distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic with little messaging about care, maintenance, and responsible use—and little professional development for teachers about how to effectively use the devices for instruction.
According to a presentation given at the work session, one in three student devices are submitted for repair annually, at a cost of 11,000 hours of staff time and $200,000 for new parts.
Staff said they plan to introduce a “Respect the Tech” program to promote a culture of ownership among students and provide teachers with training for “classroom management and curriculum integration and teaching strategies.”
The School Board unanimously supported use of the carryover funds to replace the devices, but the support comes with expectations.
“I want to see a plan for how we use computers instructionally at all levels,” Warner said.
George Washington district representative Susan Randall said she’d like to see a “tiered approach” to providing middle schoolers with Chromebooks, citing concerns about screen time.
Patricia Healy, the Rock Hill representative, said families should be required to sign contracts laying out expectations for proper care and use of the devices.
“This is a significant expense that we are prioritizing over other needs,” she said.
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