001All virtual special called meeting of the school board. >> One second. Hold on, Dr. Warner. We need to start the live stream. >> We're good to go. So, let me give them a thumbs up. They're going to go ahead and start the live stream. Give us a second and I'll let you know. Okay, we are all live. >> All right. Good evening. I call this all virtual special called meeting of the school board of Stafford County to order. Before we proceed to the agenda, we must establish our legal authority to meet virtually today. Um, this all virtual special called meeting is being held pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3708.2 two for the presentation of the superintendent FY27 funding request. A local state of emergency was declared for Wintertorm Fern declared by the Stafford County Board
002of Supervisors in resolution R26-71 with an effective date of Saturday, January 24th, 2026. Because this emergency makes it unsafe and impracticable to for a quorum of the board school board to assemble in a single location, we are meeting via Google Meet. The purpose of this meeting is to provide for the continuity of operations of the public body for the discharge of the lawful purposes, duties, and responsibilities. Madame clerk, please call the role to verify a quorum. >> Yes, ma'am. Miss Blackwell >> here. >> Dr. Chase >> here. >> Miss Davis >> here. >> Miss Figer Holtz >> here. Miss Healey >> here. >> Mr. Careshi >> here. >> Miss Randall >> here. >> Miss Mr. Rian >> here. >> And Dr. Warner >> here. >> Madam Chair, you do have a quorum. >> Okay. May
003I have a motion to confirm our emergency status and proceed with the Over Virtual Special Club meeting? >> Motion. I move that we confirm the emergency status of this meeting and proceed entirely virtual via electronic communication means as justified by the chair's statement of authority and pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2-3708.2. >> May I have a second? >> Is that Miss Healey or Miss Randall? >> Can I have the name who Randall? >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed. May I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> Madam Chair, if I can take a roll call from the members for that motion. >> Sure. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Blackwell. >> Yes. >> Dr. Chase, >> yes. >> Miss Finger Holtz, >> yes. >> Miss Healey, >> yes. >>
004Miss Randall, >> yes. >> Mr. Regan, yes. >> And Dr. Warner, >> yes. Madam chair, the motion does pass unanimously. May I have a motion to approve the agenda, please? >> Motion to the agenda. >> Second. >> Dr. Chase and um I think it was Miss Healey. Oh, Miss Randall. >> It's Miss Randall again. She's back. >> Miss Randall again. Okay. I'm gonna just do a voice vote on this. All in favor, please say I. I. I. >> Any opposed? Seeing none opposed, the motion passes unanimously. I pass this on to Dr. Smith to present his funding request. >> All right. Well, thank you so much. Let me get set up here. Uh just one second. All right. Okay, I think we're all set to go. Thank you all for being here this evening. Um,
005and good evening, schoolboard members, guests, and those joining us online tonight. I sincerely appreciate you joining me as I present my fiscal year 2027, otherwise known as FY27 funding requests. As a school division, we remain laser focused on providing efficient, intentional, and transparent decisions, making the most of every dollar to ensure every student is prepared to excel. As we go through the presentation this evening, I want to start by reminding you that as of the late the latest report published from the Virginia Department of Education in FY24, Stafford Schools is funded 121st out of 131 school divisions in Virginia. That said, I intend to show you how we are one of the most efficient divisions in the state with regard to funding, achievement, and excellence, along with how we can and should move forward as
006a school division and a community. As I developed the funding request, decisions were grounded in what to keep and what to cut based on our strategic plan. From programs and services to the design and construction of our facilities, every choice reflects our commitment to creating safe and welcoming environments, supporting and investing our exemplary staff, providing students with a high quality education, and preparing them for life after high school. We are currently in year four of our five-year strategic plan and have made many great strides. However, we're not there yet, and budgetary constraints have been the primary barrier to achieving the goals and objectives within our strategic plan. I want to make sure our kids are growing toward success every single day. And I've taken a one Stafford approach, demonstrating our commitment to working together as
007one community, developing a funding request that will enable us to work together to achieve these goals. I also want to be very mindful and intentional regarding the budget priorities the school board adopted earlier this year. These priorities were used to drive the decisions made in preparation of the FY27 funding request. And finally, we considered our growing responsibilities as educators. When I went to school and even when I started teaching, school divisions were primarily expected to teach simply the basics. reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. Fast forward to now, and the responsibilities that fall in public education have grown significantly. Responsibilities such as teaching our students and children how to behave appropriately in person and online. Teaching our children how to communicate and work with others. Guiding our students to understand different careers. give them
008experiences with those careers so they can start to chart their own future. Providing mental health services and support, which we know our students desperately need. Teaching our kids about healthy eating, nutrition, physical activity, and a healthy lifestyle. Teaching our kids about tobacco, drugs, and substance abuse. Ensuring that every student is CPR first aid certified, something that's now a graduation requirement. And there's a current bill in the Senate, SB51, that would require instruction in water safety for all of our elementary students. We, our students in our school division, take on the responsibility to teach each of our 31,267 students about these important topics. And I haven't even mentioned some of the arguably more important topics, such as teaching our kids about financial health, appropriate social media use, and the ethical use of AI. We are required
009to do all of this with the same type of funding and thinking provided 25 years ago. And we do it all so that we can build strong ethical citizens that are capable of leading our community and society. When we look at where our division stands academically, we see strong student performance and regional leadership. All of our schools are fully accredited and four out of our five high schools have earned the state's distinguished designation, the highest possible designation award. in the region. We are home to three of the top five elementary schools in the top in the top ranked middle school. And I want to note that the one high school that did not make the distinguished category missed it by only 7/10en of a point. And that's significant because it reflects not only achievement but
010also graduation rates, attendance, and student engagement. We are also seeing strong progress among English learners with Stafford schools recognized as 13 of the top 15 schools in the region for English learner growth. Student achievement data shows clear momentum. Performance improved on approximately 80% of our so assessments. We saw notable year-over-year gains including a 20% increase in world history too along with gains in geometry and of course reading and Virginia and US history. Just as important, our students are outperforming state averages in key areas. End of course writing exceed exceeded the state average by 29 percentage points with additional gains in reading and earth science. These results demonstrate that our academic investments are producing measurable returns. In the last slide, we talked about all the things that educators are responsible now to prepare students for life
011after graduation. the subjects, the supports, and the opportunities we intentionally build into their experience. Next, I'd like to show how this work translates along with this success into real post-index secondary outcomes through the three E framework, that of enrollment, employment, and enlistment. You can see here that this demonstrates we are achieving significant su success in goal one of our strategic plan ensuring meaningful post-secary outcomes for every student prepared for what comes next after graduation. Starting with enrollment, we continue to see strong participation in rigorous coursework. Students are enrolling in more advanced classes, earning more credits, and performing well on college readiness measures. Our growth in advanced placement is especially notable. Since 2021, participation has increased significantly, and today nearly 4,000 students are taking AP exams, earning a score of three or higher on nearly three
012quarters of them. One example that stands out is AP pre-calculus. With 291 exams taken and 235 of them earning a three or higher, that's an almost a 90% success rate. clear evidence that students are not only enrolling in advanced coursework but succeeding in it. Turning to employment, more than 5,600 credentials were earned by over 4,400 students last year, and these credentials reflect real marketable skills and position students for immediate entry into the workforce or continued technical training. Enlistment remains an important pathway for many of our graduates. This year, 118 students have already enlisted or plan to enlist, reflecting the leadership, discipline, and preparation developed through their school's experience. Together, these outcomes show that our academic investments are translating into results. Each student is graduating with the specific options, direction, and the preparation they need to
013succeed beyond our schools. Sustaining post-secondary results depends on having capacity to support students as our division grows. This slide here focuses on enrollment trends and what in the continued growth means for our schools staffing and long-term planning. We are closely monitoring our projected enrollment growth. While we did experience a small dip in enrollment this year, something that has occurred only two other times in the past 20 years, including once during COVID, shortterm fluctuations do not change the long-term trends. Stafford Schools is projected to grow from approximately 31,267 students today to more than 34,500 students by 2536, an increase of over 3,200 students over the next decade. To put that into perspective, our new elementary schools have a capacity of approximately 1,70 students and our middle schools serve about 1100 students. So in practical terms, this
014projected growth is equivalent to adding the capacity of two elementary schools and one middle school over the next 10 years. This growth is steady rather than a short-term spike. Enrollment is projected to exceed 33,000 students within the next five years with incremental increases continuing each year. These projections are grounded in demographic trends, housing development, and birth rate data across the county. While birth rates are considered, we do not have reliable projections for how that impacts our early childhood center enrollment. It's also important to note that capacity pressure is not solely a future concern tied to projected growth. Many of our schools are already operating at or above capacity today. And even without adding a single new student, additional funding is needed to support our current population and maintain safe and effective operations. Even modest annual
015increases compound over time. Each additional cohort increases demand for classrooms, staffing, transportation, and operational capacity. Planning for this growth requires looking beyond a single budget year to ensure our systems are positioned to support a larger evolving student population, which I'll discuss next. As I mentioned, our our enrollment is trending upward, not just in generally, but particularly among students who require additional supports. When viewed alongside the rising proportion of English learners and students disabilities, this projected growth carries additional weight. Even modest overall enrollment increases translate into significant demand for specialized instruction related services and support staff. As the number of high need students continues to rise with the with the total population. Over the last decade, our percentage of English learners tripled. Our students with disabilities or 504 plans has doubled. Last year alone, English learners
016increased from approximately 4600 students to 5,100 students. an additional 500 English learner students in a single year. Our students with disabilities grew from roughly 4,350 students to 4,500 students. Add in those with a 504 plan, which is not reported to the state or funded in any way, and that number only rises. This growth has real implications. It reinforces the need not to not only to be intentional in how we allocate funding, but also in how we staff our schools to support these learners effectively. Students in these groups require more specialized services and supports such as smaller instructional groups, additional instructional and behavioral staff, specialized instructional materials, assist of technology, translation and interpretation services, and increased compliance and progress monitoring requirements. These services are essential, but they also increase the overall cost of educating each student.
017Taken together, these trends show that while to total enrollment may fluctuate slightly from year to year, the number of students requiring additional supports continues to rise and our staffing and funding decisions must reflect that reality. Now that you've seen how far we've come, how our students needs are changing changing and where our enrollment will be over the next decade, let's turn to how we'll fund our students as one staffer for next year. This budget request reflects strong joint leadership and continued collaboration between the school board and the county, grounded in our shared commitment to students and staff. At a high level, this local funding request totals $8 million in salary increases, which we anticipate will align with the county at an average increase of 3.75% and $10.6 million for the operating cost of the three
018new schools. Importantly, these figures reflect the school division's operating request only and do not include any debt service, which is accounted for separately by the county. The county has already allocated 10.2 2 million in its 5-year forecast this past fall, which we appreciate and recognize as a meaningful step. Throughout this presentation, I'll show how we are strategically leveraging other revenue streams and maximizing efficiency. As a result, we're asking the county to fund just two targeted items. Salary increases aligned with county staff increases and the cost of opening and operating our new schools. This will allow us to ensure that these resources are focused where they are have the greatest impact while remaining mindful of broader fiscal pressures. Something unique in Stafford is that we build the budget from the ground up each year. Every line
019is reviewed annually and prior year funding is not automatically carried forward. Not every organization takes this approach, but we must and we do in order to be as efficient as possible. We look at what we funded, what we can reallocate, and what we can cut. At this point, we have paired out, cut, reallocated, and patched as much as we can. We are as efficient as we can be. In fact, over the last 5 years, we've reduced the base budget by more than $6 million. This year alone, we made additional base budget reductions totaling 2.2 2 million by examining items such as software licenses, instructional materials, transportation, fuel, and the return on investment of some of our positions. Thanks to a reduction in the employer contribution rate of VRS for FY27, we were able to reallocate
0206.5 million towards health insurance increases. This intentional discipline review allows us to operate more efficiently and absorb costs that otherwise would have required additional local funding. While analyzing each piece of our budget, we also look work closely with our principles and division leaders to understand our highest needs across the school division. Given our fiscal constraints, we cannot meet every need and we have to look for creative solutions even if it means re-evaluating some of our current staffing standards. The question becomes not what do we need but what can we do without or how can we shift resources to address the most critical needs. In preparation for opening three new schools, we have redistrated students just across just about every elementary and high school. Next year, we'll have a few elementary schools that have around 450
021students and a few elementary schools that over have over a thousand students, some of the largest in the state. This also forces us to look at how staff are allocated to meet the different needs of our schools. Each school and school community not only varies in size, but also in demographics and student needs. For example, I'm proposing one change that will reduce the clerical staffing for our smallest elementary schools and reallocate them to our largest elementary schools with the most students and families. Similarly, our high school athletics and activities programs have many incredible opportunities for our students to be involved on a school team, activity, or club. However, the personnel to coordinate, supervise, and support these programs is lacking. For example, during the upcoming spring season during March, April, and May, the one athletic and
022activities director at each high school will support more than 115 events, attending over 38 night events, which adds an average of seven working hours on top of their schedule each day. And this is in addition to the responsibilities they take on during the day, supporting the facilities, activities, clubs, transportation, and eligibility. This list goes on and on. and our activity athletic directors are sometimes tasked with also serving as liaison for building rentals. We know that this is going to be a tight budget year and we could not build in a new position into the budget even though it was desperately needed. Instead, I'm proposing that we reallocate one clerical position at each high school, redistribute the responsibilities to other staff, optimize the use of existing technology to automate tasks, and reduce those responsibilities, and add
023a part-time athletics and activities director to support each high school. This is a good example of where we know we need the support of the clerical position, but the part-time activities director is of greater need and we have seen burnout among our ads and we do not have a strong pipeline of candidates to fill few vacancies. Finally, our efficiency review also includes looking at which courses must require a certified teacher and where we can be more efficient with a pair of professional at the high school level. This would mean reallocating one teacher position at each high school and replacing it with two pair of professionals that can support virtual and distance learning courses. Simply put, these are just a few examples of how we are looking at every dollar, every position, and every resource we
024can to be as efficient and as effective as possible. After completing the zerobased budget analysis, we land on a carefully constructed, intentional, and efficient request that shows our revenue need increase for FY27 to be approximately 41.1 million. To break that out, the state increase of 21.6 million is largely driven by Governor Yncan's caboose bill and reflects his changes outside of local control. At the local level, the county increase request totals 10.5 million, which is focused specifically on new school operating costs and salaries, and 8 million for compensation. Combined, this results in a total local increase request of 18.6 million. Federal revenue is projected to increase by about 1 million, primarily due to formula and program adjustments such as Medicaid, while other local revenue decreases slightly by about $169,000. Taken together, these funding sources result in
025a total revenue increase of just over 41.1 million, allowing us to open new schools and prioritize staff compensation while continuing to limit the local funding request through careful and intentional budgeting. So, when you look at the $41.1 million increase, the natural next question is where is that funding going? 26% of our new expenses are reoccurring operational costs directly associated with the opening of three new schools. These are not optional or one-time expenses. There is ongoing cost required to operate those news those buildings year after year. Importantly, these costs are not a surprise. We've known these schools were coming and we've been intentional in planning for their operational impact. That long-term planning is reflected in both our staffing models and our financial assumptions. These expenses include staffing, utilities, custodial services, instructional support, and the basic infrastructure
026required to serve students safely and effectively. They represent the cost of doing business, not new initiatives. Because we planned ahead, we were able to use the zerobased budgeting process to absorb other pressures internally, ensuring that new local funding is focused on the opening of three new schools, something that is unique here in Stafford. It is a big lift and we are excited to see see the doors opening this fall. This funding request stays consistent with historical trends regarding the increased need for funding while reflecting efficient, intentional, transparent budgeting. When you remove the new operating costs associated with the three new schools, our funding request is 6.3% over last year, a figure in line with what this board has seen in prior years. When those new school operating costs are included, the total request rises to
027only 8.4%. And even with added those added costs, the request continues to align with the increased costs of doing business, including compensation pressures, inflation, and contractual obligations. This comparison reinforced that growth, not program expansion, is driving the increase in our funding request. The underlying budget I've developed reflects restraints, long-term planning, and a continued focus on efficiency. So, while we've been intentional about managing costs, it's important to note that our largest expense continues to be compensation and benefits. This is intentional because our people are at the heart of everything we do. Investing in our educators, administrators, and staff is an investment in student learning, engagement, and outcomes. Strong teachers and staff directly translate into strong schools, successful students, and a connected community. This focus on compensation also reflects our commitment to recruiting, retaining, and rewarding top
028talent. And in a in a competitive education landscape, maintaining competitive salaries and benefits ensures we can continue to attract and keep the best educators for Stafford students. Some of the increases in this budget are simply the cost of doing business. For example, the state recently adopted new English and language arts standards, and in FY27, we are scheduled to adopt new textbooks and instructional materials for all grades K through 12. This is not an an optional expense as our teachers need updated textbooks and materials to ensure that our instruction is aligned to the updated standards and that we are moving our students in the right direction. Canvas is our learning management system. The system where teachers and students house all of their courses, assignments, calendars, and resources. The state has paid for this in the past
029and is not incl current currently included in the state budget. We know we must establish a cyclical replacement of key infrastructure such as technology and buses. Currently, if a teacher's classroom technology breaks, we don't we do not have the spares to fix it or replace it. In the past, we've tried to patch these needs with one-time funds, and incrementally building a cyclical replacement system is a long-term solution where we must begin to make some small gains. So, how are we planning to cover these costs? We address these costs through efficient, intentional, transparent, and strategic budgeting. First, we will leverage state funding carefully using formulas and allocations to support priorities where they are intended rather than relying solely on loss. Second, we ensure strategic alignment of all resources to meet student needs. As I said earlier,
030we start with a zerobased budget. Every dollar is reviewed to make sure it directly supports student learning, growth, and safety while minimizing inefficiency or duplication. This approach allows us to support and invest in staff, schools, and programs effectively, maintaining our trend of responsible budgeting and keeping the local funding requests focused on essential and growth related costs. In Governor Yncan's proposed budget, Stafford County is projected to receive $4.5 million in new atrisisk funding. This state funding is targeted towards students who faced higher barriers to learning, including students experiencing economic disadvantage, English language learners, and other criteria identified by the state. At risk funding plays a critical role in offsetting costs that would otherwise fall to local taxpayers. While it does require a local match, it allows us direct resources where they are needed most while minimizing
031additional local burden. Our approach to atrisisk funding funding has been intentional and outcome focused. We prioritize investments that directly support student learning, safety, and stability while also strengthening the workforce that serves our highest need students. A key component of this strategy is recruitment and retention of high-quality staff. We know students are far more likely to succeed when they have experienced, wellsupported educators in their classrooms. In recent years, we have focused on strengthening new teacher support and expanding in school coaching. As a result, our vacancy rate has declined each year, and this school year, we open with the lowest number of teacher vacancies since 2016. To sustain this progress, we are using at risk funds strategically, focusing on supports and stabilizing critical positions. This approach allows us to continue improving outcomes while reducing what we are
032asking for locally. The largest investments in at risk funding are direct student supports including academic interventionist and positions that strengthen student safety engagement and behavioral support. These roles allows us to address academic and social emotional needs early before they disrupt learning. Middle school deans and school security officers were included in the division staffing standards when they were adopted in 2022, but implementation has been delayed. At risk funding now allows us to move forward with these positions already identified as necessary to maintain safe learning environments and strong relationships with students. We are also using atrisisk funding to stabilize positions that were previously supported through federal grants, including roles focused on new teacher support and professional learning. These positions have proven to be effective and shifting them back to the operating budget provides stability as the federal
033funding priorities change. Both from an instructional and fiscal standpoint, this matters. High turnover, especially in high need schools, disrupts learning and increased costs. Stabilizing staffing protects our investment in training, improves continuity for our students, and strengthen long-term outcomes. Together, the state invest in investment and local match allows us to advance priorities that we have already identified, support our most vulnerable students, and do so in a way that is strategic, responsive, and sustainable. So, let's talk about each of these in more detail. Interventionists provide targeted academic support in reading and math for students with the greatest needs. Their work is centered on delivering intentional research-based interventions that strengthen foundational skills and close learning gaps. They closely monitor student data and use them in real time to adjust instruction when needed. This ensures that inventions interventions remain
034effective and responsive rather than static and make sure that students receive the right support at the right time. They also support teachers and paraprofessionals through coaching, collaboration, and alignment with tiered support strategies and special education goals. This helps to ensure that evidence-based interventions are consistent across classrooms and schools and that instructional strategies are reinforced throughout the day. In in addition, interventionists help coordinate assessments and compliance requirements, including benchmark assessments and progress monitoring. They work closely with school teams and families to ensure students receive timely, consistent support and that everyone understands the instructional plan in place. Much of this work, particularly related to the Virginia Literacy Act, has been supported by grant funding in the past. Those grants allowed us to make important gains, but they are not ongoing. Applying at risk funding allows us to
035continue that progress and sustain the intervention supports that our schools are relying on. Most importantly, and something I want to stress that this was the number one request from our elementary schools. Principles were clear that interventionists are essential to meeting student needs in reading and math and maintaining the positive momentum that we've built. And the data shows that interventionists are working. The impact of the structures our interventionists have put in place is clearly evident in our student progress. specifically how early targeted support is reducing the number of students identified as h high- risk in reading. On the left you'll see a reduction in students failing falling into the VA's how high-risisk band from one year to the next in both kindergarten and first grade. On the right that same trend continues with fewer students being
036identified at tier three. In both cases we're seeing meaningful year-over-year improvement. What this tells us is students are being identified earlier, supported more effectively, and in many cases no longer require the most intensive levels of intervention. And that's exactly what we want to see. Students moving moving towards grade level performance rather than remaining in higher risk categories. By building consistent structures around screening, progress monitoring, and targeted instruction, interventionists are catching students early and reducing the need for more intensive, more costly interventions later on. interventions and interventionists are not only helping with reading and literacy, they are helping with significant gains in math. Students are moving out of at risk bands and moving into higher growth categories as a result of early targeted support. What's especially important here is what's happening with our lowest performing students.
037Students that started in the bottom 25th percentile are not just making minimal progress, they're showing meaningful acceleration. And in fact, over 40% of those students demonstrated significant growth, a notable increase from the prior year. We're also seeing strong movement among students who began in the the mid there with 26 to 50th percentile. Nearly 30% achieved adequate growth and more than 35% of those achieved significant growth, showing that students across multiple starting points are benefiting from interventionist support. Most importantly, this demonstrated progress in both literacy and math reflects an efficient use of time and resources. By focusing on intervention supports at the earliest grades, interventionists are consistently improving outcomes. Another important position, Dean of Students, provides the behavioral and instructional leadership needed to support students growth and keeping classrooms running smoothly. Dean of Students plays an
038critical role in reducing repeat incidents and minimizing instructional disruptions. They oversee discipline, mediation, and restorative practices, ensuring the behavioral challenges are addressed thoughtfully and constructively. They also lead behavior tiered supports and and attendance interventions providing early datadriven support for students who need additional guidance. As you can see in the graph, the number of minor referrals is much higher in the middle school, almost double of that of high schools. What is even more significant is there are over 3,000 fewer students at the middle school level. By having deans at the middle schools, we can help prevent small issues from becoming larger problems that impact learning. In addition, deans support in instructional continuity by keeping students engaged and minimizing lost class time due to behavior related issues. They help us develop an administrator pipeline, ensuring we develop
039our top talent and keep them here in Stafford. Finally, they partner closely with administrators and teachers, conducting classroom walkthroughs and coordinating student supports to create proactive, consistent, and positive school climate. Middle school is a critical developmental period, but it also comes with an increase in behavioral incidents. Impulsivity, pure conflict, and developing emotional regulation all contribute to a higher concentration of disciplinary referrals at this level. Currently, administrators are managing most of these incidents and investigations, which diverts their time away from instructional leadership, tier, and instructional supports and direct student support. This reduces the amount of time they can they can spend supporting both teachers and students academically. You will often hear me say that safety and security is our top priority. We know that students must feel safe, secure, and supported in order to learn, and
040I take this very seriously. We continue to review our layered security approaches to ensure that we are best positioned to keep our students and staff safe. Currently, it's concerning that Stafford is the only division in the region without school security officers at the middle school level. This limits proactive supervision and early intervention during stage when students need guidance and structure the most. While our middle schools do have assigned school resource officers or SRO's by the sheriff's office, they are frequently pulled in another direction and off-campus to a high school that may be without an SRO for the day or an elementary school that may need support. The new atrisisk funding provided by the state will allow us to provide school security officers at each middle school. And by adding these dedicated SSOs, we can reduce
041disruptions, improve response time, and strengthen school climate and security. This allowed students to remain engaged in learning and educators and administrators to focus on instruction and student support, ultimately positively impacting student success. Up to this point, I've shown how state at risk funding strategically supports high need students, funds critical positions such such as school security officers, deans, and interventionists, and helps maintain safe, well-managed schools. While these funds cover a significant portion of the funding request, new school operations and salaries require local investment. This brings us to how how I have strategically and intentionally created a support request that is efficient, intentional, and transparent. We are appreciative of the vision of the school board and for the investment of $312 million by the board of supervisors for construction and we need to be intentional about protecting
042this investment. It's also difficult for me to quantify in this short time that I have with you the incredible amount of time, energy, and change that has already taken place in the preparation for the shift that comes with opening these three new schools. We have redistricted all elementary and high school students across the county. We have established a divisionwide transition team to help guide the work of the transition. We developed and executed plans for the movement and reassignment of staff, including 300 staff members who are moving with students. And those staff that are moving represent 80% of the required staffing for our new schools. We've created plans to move classroom equipment, teacher supplies, curriculum materials, etc. And the list goes on and on. Simply put, we are incredibly thankful for the investment and the challenge,
043and we have met every mark and ready to continue to take the steps to get these projects over the finish line. The total size of these three new schools is just over 560,000 square feet, covering a little over 114 acres. We have 30 K12 schools in our division, and adding three more is a 10% increase in the size of our school division. However, we knew this would come with additional costs as it takes additional maintenance crews such as custodians, grounds crews, and electricians to keep the buildings and crowns and our community's investment in good working order. New schools also come with essential staffing expectations. Every building needs a principal, assistant principles, counselors, social workers, technology staff, and librarians, for example. And all of that comes with a cost. At the same time, opening the new
044schools reduced utilization rates from 99% to 85% in our elementary schools and from currently being 102% at our high schools to a little over 85%. This also influences staffing and operational needs. With these factors in mind, we are carefully planning to ensure that each school is properly staffed and supported so that both students and staff can thrive in these new learning environments. This chart shows the estimated annual reoccurring cost to operate the three new schools, ensuring the same level of support and quality as the rest of the division. Staffing is the largest cost every time a new school opens. And these costs show how the positions that are building based, not the teachers and other positions that will move with students from other schools or enrollment changes. Operating costs include the ongoing things that the
045schools need to operate every day such as utilities, supplies, technology, safety and compliance requirements, and sight driven instructional licenses. Combined, the reoccurring cost to operating the three new schools will be $10.57 million independent of enrollment changes. Each building will require staff and operational support as the operational footprint of the division is expanded to 33 prek12 schools. And it's worth noting that these costs are not a surprise as we have shared them and discuss discussed them for several months. However, I do want to point out that the projected staffing cost decreased by $160,000 due to a reduction in our VRS benefit rates. Investing in staff doesn't only mean attracting qualified educators to Stafford. It also means retaining, supporting, and enticing our educators to stay. When we talk about staff turnover, it's important to look beyond the
046numbers and understand the full cost, both financial and relational. From a fiscal standpoint, turnover is expensive. Every vacancy triggers costs tied to recruiting, advertising, interviewing, onboarding, training, and often paying substitutes or overtime in the meantime. These costs quickly add up, and they repeat every time we lose an experienced employee. Over time, constant rehiring is far more expensive than maintaining competitive pay. And that helps us to retain the people we've already invested in. And the cost of turnover isn't just financial. It's also relational. When staff leave, students lose trusted adults. Instructional teams are disrupted. Relationships with families are reset. And that instability has a real impact on school climate and student performance, especially for our most vulnerable learners who rely on that consistency and connection. Stability matters. Schools with stable staffing are better positioned to implement
047initiatives well, collaborate effectively, and sustain improvement over time. When educators stay, they deepen their practice, strengthen relationships, and contribute to a more predictable, supportive learning environment for students. We must continue investing in our staff, making market corrections where necessary, and retaining our educators. We often talk about one Stafford, and that means Stafford County government and Stafford County Schools staying aligned in how we invest in our people. More than 70% of our employees live and work here. Supporting them directly supports our community. This budget and funding request proposes an average of 3.75% salary increase across all employees, consistent with the county's anticipated average increase and our shared goal of remaining alignment on compensation. For licensed staff, we are adjusting our approach to address both competitiveness and sustainability. Our current starting teacher salary is 50,600 while neighboring
048divisions are significantly higher. For example, Spennsylvania is proposing $54,92 as their starting salary and Prince William County is going to be at $62,562. Over time, focusing on 3% step increases limited our ability to raise the bottom of the scale, causing us to lose ground. To address this, we are launching a multi-year plan that phases that raises the minimum of the license scale by more than 2,000 to start and shifts most step increases to 2.15% with smaller increases at the top. This allows us to consistently provide steps raise starting salaries in future years, ensure year-over-year growth for all teachers and staff, and maintains a fiscally sustainable scale for service employees. A recent compensation study recommended structural changes that would have resulted in pay reductions for some staff. For that reason, I am not proposing that we
049implement that that stale this year. Instead, we are recommending an average 3.75% increase across all employees and taking additional time to develop a more thoughtful, sustainable plan for future adjustments. And now I want to draw your attention to a critical issue affecting our administrative leadership. One that is real consequences for our division's stability and effectiveness. Over the last four years, we've experienced a staggering 67% turnover rate among our school-based administrators. Let me repeat that. 67% turnover. This means more than twothirds of our administrative positions have changed hands in just four years, which includes resignations, retirements, promotions, etc. We spoke just a minute ago about the way turnover impacts student relationships. Instability also disrupts the staff. It affects teacher morale and it ultimately impacts student outcomes. And it's worth noting that leadership is second only to
050classroom instruction and factors affecting student learning. Here you can see the significant compensation gaps between our starting salary scale compared to our closest neighbors. The FY26 spots scale in the navy colored numbers and the FY26 Prince William scale in the burgundy colored numbers show dramatically different compensation structures. Particularly when you consider that Prince William credits years of service while Spennsylvania does not. This means that our school-based administrators are not only earning lessons based salary, but they're also missing out on recognition and compensation for their experience and dedication. Over the past four years, the cumulative licensed teacher salary increases have increased approximately 20% higher than what we provided to our administrators. While investing in our teachers is absolutely essential, we've inadvertently created a situation where our administrative positions have fallen significantly behind. Part of this discrepancy
051includes what should have been market corrections for school-based administrators. We've fallen behind our competitors. Divisions like Prince William and Spennsylvania are able to recruit and retain administrative talent because they're offering more competitive compensation packages. We need to make a market correction to bring our administrator salaries in line with with competing districts. This is about more than fairness. It's about attracting and retaining the high-quality leaders our schools need and deserve. Without this correction, we'll continue to see administrators leave for other opportunities and will struggle to fill these critical positions with highquality candidates. When we look at total compensation, health insurance remains a critical part of our ability to recruit and retain staff, especially in a competitive market where our salaries do not compare with those of surrounding divisions. Currently, Stafford Schools continues to offers the lowest
052health insurance premiums amongst our regional peers. That matters particularly as most nearby school divisions are increasing premiums with at least one reporting a potential premium increase of nearly 20%. As we work to build a strong and sustainable foundation for the future of Stafford schools, it's important to consider the rising cost of health insurance. Nationally, health insurance costs have been rising and Stafford has experienced significant increases for the past two years. We are projecting a 28% increase over last year's budget. This equals $10 million in additional investment by the division to offset the impact on our employees. We're hopeful that this increase will cover this year's show shortfall and next year's increase. This funding request ensures that the division is in picking up the majority of the cost. However, we are proposing that employee premiums increase
053by 5 to 7% depending on their current plan. For employees, this translates to an additional cost of roughly $2 to $26 per month depending on the selected plan. We've reviewed our last year's claims and with our health insurance provider to better understand these trends and we're working closely with our provider to identify cost containment and reduction strategies. We want to ensure that our benefits remain competitive and aligned with our broader goal of building a strong sustainable foundation for Stafford school's continued growth and success. Here's a comparison of the premiums I was just referencing. And this particular example is of our most expensive plan. While we've not been able to keep up with some of our neighbors in terms of salaries, we are able to use our benefits as a recruitment and retention tool. Although there
054are differences in plan design and coverage. Overall, our current and proposed premiums are competitive with our neighboring school divisions. Our employee plan is also competitive when compared with local government. However, the employee rates do do exceed the county government rates in several employee groups. This slide is important because it shows the average impact across employees and why this approach represents the most strategic and efficient use of available dollars. This year, the average compensation I'm proposing across all employees is 3.75%. At the same time, employee health insurance premiums are recommended to increase between five and 7%. And this shows the net effect on take-home pay. When you take a look at the lowest monthly increase in the average health insurance increase, employees will still see a positive monthly difference. For teachers, the net increase is about
055$33 per month. For service employees, it's about $12 a month, and it's not a large increase, and I want to be transparent about that, but it's still an increase. The decision to prioritize health insurance was intentional. By keeping employee premiums competitive in the region, we're protecting take-home pay and preserving a critical recruit rec recruitment and retention tool. This is especially important in a competitive market where benefits often make the difference in employment decisions. As you just saw, surrounding divisions are increasing premiums at much higher rates, some by double digits. By absorbing the significant portion of rising health insurance costs at the division level, we are limiting the impact on employees paychecks. We are also working to be as efficient as possible by using $2.5 million of our carryable spendable carryover to provide temporary fixes for
056some of our most critical needs. Like many divisions, we have ongoing needs for cyclical replacement of equipment and technology. And ideally, we would build these costs into our recurring operating budget. However, given our current financial constraints, we simply don't have the funds to do that. Instead, we're having to be as efficient as possible and patch these needs using yearend funds. This includes approximately $1 million in technology to cover items like teacher devices, interactive boards, and other essential classroom hardware. It also includes funds to upgrade out outdated technology on our buses, including aging camera systems. And speaking of buses, we're also addressing our bus replacement needs. We know we need to get to at least a recurring replacement of 20 buses to maintain safe and reliable transportation each year. The current operating budget only includes 14
057buses and were able to purchase six buses using end ofear funds. While this isn't ideal, it's a step in the right direction. One of the top requests we received from our high schools was replacement enhancement of security cameras. We've heard this loud and clear from our administrators and we're supplementing our operating budget with additional carryover funds. Earlier this year, we piloted weapons detection systems at one football game at each of our high schools and I'm pleased to report received positive feedback from our schools in the community. Given their success and the positive reception from the community, I am recommend that we leverage carryover funds to purchase two additional units for each high school so they can be deployed at largecale public-f facing events. This technology provides another important layer of security for our safety and
058of our students and community members. These are just a few of the investments that demonstrate our commitment to safety and our willingness to adapt to meet the evolving needs of our schools even within tight budget constraints. As I close, I want to take a step back and connect connect the full story behind this request. Stafford schools is delivering results. Every school is accredited, fully accredited. Four of our five high schools are distinguished. We're outperforming the state in key areas, including leading the region in multiple grade levels and preparing students for life after graduation with more than 5,600 credentials earned last year. This is a division that is performing performing well. And at the same time, our responsibility is growing significantly. We're opening three new schools and expanding our foot footprint by 10%. Special population enrollment
059has doubled over the past decade. Student needs are more complex and expectations for schools continue to expand from safety and mental health to comprehensive student support. Throughout this presentation, you've seen how we've approached that reality with discipline and intention. Over the last six years, we've reduced more than 8.5 million from the base budget through de zerobased budgeting, internal reallocations, and cost containment while still improving outcomes. We strategically leverage state at risk funding to support interventionists, school security officers, and middle school deans to provide staff stability along with roles that directly impact student learning, safety, and school climate. and we've used one-time carryover and urine funds to address non-reoccurring needs without burdening the base budget. This request reflects careful prioritization. Expanding our buildings and footprint by 10% and managing enrollment growth accounts for a significant portion
060of new costs. Turnover is costly, disruptive, and ultimately hurts students. As such, I'm proposing a 3.75% average increase because stability, recruitment, and retention matter. We've also made strategic health insurance decisions to protect employee take-home pay while absorbing the majority of rising costs at the division level. This is not an expansion budget. It's a sustain and deliver budget. It preserves momentum, protects what's working, and positions Stafford schools to move forward without stepping backwards. It reflects efficiency in how dollars are spent, intentionality where they're invested, and transparency in how decisions are made. Tonight is just the beginning of the FY27 budget adoption process. I encourage the community to remain engaged and involved, beginning with the school board's town hall tomorrow evening. The town hall will be hosted here in our schoolboard chambers and livereamed for anyone who
061is interested in participating. We'll provide a QR code for people to submit questions during the live stream. From there, the school board will complete its work to develop the school board approved budget on February 19th and present that approved budget to the board of supervisors during a work session on February 26th. The two boards will meet again on April 16th to discuss the school board's approved budget on April 21st. and the board of supervisors will advertise their tax rate CIP and adopt their FY27 budget which will let us know our schools will be funded for the next fiscal year. Once we have that information, the school board board will finalize the school board adopted budget on April 28th. We hope to remain engaged over each step of the process. Thank you very much for your
062time and attention this evening. I appreciate your partnership and I look forward to working alongside of you as we continue forward in the FY27 budget process. Board members, please send any questions to me or Mr. Chris Fulmer and we'll be happy to work with staff to provide the information needed. I look forward to engaging our community at tomorrow's work session. I mean tomorrow's I'm sorry, tomorrow's budget town hall and working with our school board at the next budget work session on February 10th. Thanks again for your time and for your unwarying support of Stafford schools. >> Thank you, Dr. Smith. >> Um, I would like to give everybody an opportunity if they have a quick comment or question, but I would like to remind board members that we do have a work session on the
06310th. The town hall is tomorrow and um the uh public hearing for this is also on the 10th. So, does anybody have any comments? Not seeing any comments. I just I look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow at the town hall and um we will work on make sure you have your questions and the um the budget book is online and we will have conversation on the 10th at um our work session. And with that, I will adjourn the meeting. Thank you all.