The Alexandria School Board unanimously adopted Superintendent Gregory Hutchings’ $346 million fiscal year 2022 Combined Funds Budget last Thursday night.
The proposal, which was approved without discussion, is a nearly 4% increase ($9.3 million) over last year’s request from the City, and asks for approximately $248.7 million from the city to give employees a 2.6% salary step increase and a 2.5% market rate adjustment. The school system is banking on the hope that the city will endorse former Governor Ralph Northam’s proposal to raise teacher pay by 10.25% across the state.
“To ensure we can continue to recruit and retain high quality staff, we must offer compensation that is highly competitive with our surrounding school divisions,” Hutchings wrote in the budget proposal.
The ACPS budget is comprised of the $316.2 million ACPS operating fund, $17.6 million from the grants and special projects fund and a $12 million school nutrition fund.
On Tuesday (Feb. 15), City Manager Jim Parajon will unveil his fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. Barring an unforeseen addition to the budget by a member of Council related to the school system, Parajon’s proposal will generally determine the city’s position toward funding the school system’s requests. Council will then spend the next several months in budget deliberations before finally approving the budget in May.
The School Board mostly went along with Hutchings’ proposal, and only made slight changes in last week’s add/delete session by earmarking funds to conduct a comprehensive salary scale study for all ACPS employees, as well as hiring a part-time college and career position at Alexandria City High School. The adjustments did not change the proposed budget amount.
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Time flies when you’re having fun! The T.C. Williams High School Class of 1973 will hold its 50th reunion July 21-23, 2023 in Alexandria. All graduates and their adult nears and dears are welcome. Events include a Friday evening icebreaker, Saturday dinner dance, and a Sunday brunch. For more information: tcwilliams73.com, 770.789.3534.
Spring Fling at Rising Sol Yoga School
Join us for a day of FREE hot yoga. Experience our class styles and meet our teachers. Buy a bite at the Bake Sale to benefit The Carpenter’s Shelter, peruse some special vendors, take advantage of in-person only discounts on