Stafford School Board's Budget Request Includes Salary Scale Improvements for Teachers, Support Staff
Unanimously approved budget now goes to the Board of Supervisors.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Stafford County licensed teachers and support staff would see improvements to their salaries under the budget approved Tuesday evening by the School Board.
The board unanimously approved a $503.1 million budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1.
The School Board’s budget—which now goes to the Board of Supervisors for consideration as part of the county’s budget—adds about $12.5 million to the request presented last month by superintendent Daniel Smith.
With that $12.5 million, the board would be able to implement all of Phase IV of proposed adjustments to the licensed staff salary scale; bring the support staff salary scale to Phase III; and increase starting pay for first year teachers from $50,500 to $51,500.
There is now an $18.3 million gap between proposed expenditures and anticipated revenues. School Board members on Tuesday acknowledged that the ask from the local government is large, but that the increased funding would go directly towards supporting school division staff.
“It’s an aberration for me to be supporting such a high number, but it sends a message,” said Rock Hill representative Patricia Healy, who has been on the board for 25 years. “Somebody has got to open the eyes of our funding body to what we have here in Stafford. We have the luxury of having an amazing staff who go above and beyond every day,” despite not being paid what they are worth.
Falmouth representative Sarah Chase said the School Board’s request follows the five-year plan developed some years ago in response to a request from supervisors.
“We talked about the fact that our teachers had not been given the kind of salary increase that our public safety personnel had been given,” she said. “What we were told was that we have a lot more employees, so it’s a lot more difficult for us to make those corrections. So, we agreed that we would come up with a five-year plan, and we have completed years one to three. It’s incredibly important that we attempt to do year four licensed staff. And we’re aware that for support staff, we’ve fallen behind.”
Several members of the community, who spoke during a public hearing on the budget earlier during Tuesday’s meeting, said the school division’s budget is wasteful and not transparent.
Elizabeth Warner, Griffis-Widewater representative, addressed these comments.
“Our budget book is online. You can find it. You can read it,” she said.
She stressed that the School Board’s top priorities are “staff and resources” and noted that 71% of the division’s employees live in and pay taxes in the county.
Other board members hinted at a difficult road ahead in the budget process.
“Just to be super clear, this is our funding request—this is obviously not a final adopted budget. That won’t happen for a couple months,” said Susan Randall, George Washington district representative. “This is just the beginning.”
Hartwood representative Alyssa Halstead said that every year, the board’s budget request is “a shot in the dark.”
“Every year, this board ends up being beaten on the head with things that are not true [about the impact of the division’s request on the county’s budget],” she said. “We understand that nobody wants their taxes raised. Nobody wants to pay more money.”
“We will fight for [this budget request] but that doesn’t mean we’ll get it,” Halstead continued. “That’s the hard reality.”
Updated at 11 AM, February 26, 2025, to reflect that the percentage of division employees living in Stafford is 71%, not 75% as originally reported.
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