Alexandria Schools Budget Responds To Staff Recuitment, Middle School Sports

ALEXANDRIA, VA — With staff recruitment and retention continuing to be a key issue at Alexandria City Public Schools, the proposed budget for the next fiscal year focuses on staff pay and other priorities.

ACPS Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt proposed an operating budget of $342.4 million for the 2024-2025 school year, which represents a 3.9 percent increase over the current year's budget. The total combined funds budget is $373.7 million, which mainly represents the operating budget and also includes school nutrition funds and the grants and special projects fund.

According to a news release from ACPS, priorities of the superintendent's proposals are staff pay, increase of school-based staff positions, improving instructional alignment and rigor, funding for technology upgrades to address cybersecurity threats, preparing for the opening of the Alexandria City High School's Minnie Howard campus in August 2024, and launching middle school athletics.

"We are one team, on one journey, at ACPS, and this Proposed Combined Funds Budget for FY 2025 demonstrates our priority to retain and recruit highly qualified staff to ensure students’ academic progress and well-being," said Kay-Wyatt in a statement. "As enrollment has grown and we offer additional academic courses with the opening of the new Minnie Howard campus, funding is needed to increase school-based staff. Also, we are looking to provide our middle school students with a new athletics program and ensure we have the necessary funding for our technology security and facilities operations in the year ahead."

About 85 percent of the combined funds budget proposal represents pay for ACPS staff. The superintendent is proposing pay step increases for eligible employees, higher wage rates for hourly or casual employees such as substitute teachers, recruitment and retention bonuses for hard-to-fill positions in special education, transportation and other teaching roles, a reconfigured pay scale for bus drivers, and increased benefit rates to keep the current rate benefit plan structure.

The budget plans for a slight increase in student enrollment next school year. School-based staffing increases would include additional homeroom teachers, English Learner positions and specialized instruction classes to support new academic pathways and the new Minnie Howard campus.

For the new Minnie Howard campus, funding would support custodial services, safety and security services, utilities, pool programming, more school-based staff, classroom setup and maintenance.

The proposed technology funding increase is intended to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity threats, respond to increased operational costs from the new high school campus, and support the status of facilities and funding for risk management and property insurances. Funding for middle school athletics would support equipment, uniforms stipends and transportation.

"Our budget team worked closely with division leaders to ensure that staff positions in schools are increased to reflect enrollment and that we have the financial incentives to retain and recruit staff as well as strengthen specific positions that are critical to student success," said ACPS Chief Financial Officer Dominic Turner. "We are looking ahead to address the need for improved cybersecurity protection and improved technology infrastructure."

The Alexandria City School Board will hold a work session on the budget on Jan. 11 and a public hearing on Jan. 18. Budget adoption is expected on Feb. 22. The city must then go through its own budget process to approve funding for ACPS. City Council's budget adoption will happen in early May. The School Board will pass a final budget on June 6 once the city's budget is approved.

See the full budget proposal online.