Norfolk School Board delays vote on budget
NORFOLK — The School Board delayed a vote on its $494 million budget Wednesday night with several members asking for more time to review the budget and amendments being brought forward.
Board members Tanya Bhasin and Rodney Jordan shared recommendations to look at the budget to better support academic achievement and student services. Some of the motions provided on the agenda for a special meeting March 22 recommend the division “more aggressively support” efforts to address literacy and numeracy achievement and address inequities between student subgroups “exacerbated” by the pandemic. The motions suggest looking at federal relief funding and reversion funds to accomplish this.
Another motion addressed staff compensation and recommended the division adopt a one-to-one teacher pay scale in which a year of experience equates to a step on the scale. One motion recommended adopting a compensation practice and philosophy comparable to Virginia Beach Public Schools.
The board decided to delay budget approval in a 4-3 vote, with Carlos Clanton, Noelle Gabriel and Lauren Campsen voting against the motion.
Following the vote, Gabriel questioned what would be different in the special meeting and the board just “that we are not working with our superintendent.” However, Jordan said that was not his concern.
Included in the proposed budget is funding for new weapons detection systems to go in all schools, which several regional school divisions have also made moves to do, as well as pay raises and bonuses for staff to support staff recruitment and retention.