Va. Beach School Board OKs $828.8M budget

Plan includes 5% raise for employees, needs City Council approval

The Virginia Beach School Board approved the superintendent’s $828.8 million operating budget Tuesday night, which includes a 5% raise for employees.

The budget, which still needs to be OK’d by the City Council, was approved on a 9-2 vote, with members Victoria Manning and Laura Hughes voting against it. The employee raises caused the most tension on the board. Manning had previously said that she didn’t support the raises as they were currently planned, and instead wanted all employees to get a 3% raise and for teachers to receive more than 5%.

Ultimately, the board opted to stick with Superintendent Aaron Spence’s initial recommendation of 5% raises for all staffers — 4.5% would come from a cost of living adjustment and a 0.5% step increase for employees below the top of the school system’s pay scale. The boost in compensation will cost the division roughly $28 million.

Spence previously said that Virginia Beach has to increase teacher pay in order to remain competitive in hiring, as Virginia routinely ranks as one of the lowest-paying states for teachers. That, coupled with the pandemic that has added stress and responsibilities for many teachers, made it “more important than ever” to improve pay, he said.

This year’s raise, the largest in several years, comes after officials canceled a planned 3.5% raise for employees last year, citing lost funding due to the pandemic. They received a $1,000 bonus in the fall.

The budget will also boost funding for the environmental studies and Spanish immersion programs, as well as additional support for special education students and English Learners. And it funds 16 new guidance counselor positions for elementary and middle schools.