Newly Proposed 2007 School Budget Funds Learning and Teaching
Expanding full-day Kindergarten and boosting teacher salaries to stay competitive with other areas top the list of new initiatives contained in the proposed 2007 Prince William County Public Schools budget now under consideration by the School Board.
Superintendent Steve Walts’ proposed $739.6 million operating budget is consistent with the five-year spending plan and revenue sharing agreement with Prince William County. Covering costs for an anticipated 2,200 new students, along with unavoidable increases in insurance and benefit expenditures, the proposal maintains current levels of programs and services across the School Division. It also makes important new investments in the educational program and critical support activities in keeping with School Board priorities.
Highlights include:
- Adding approximately 70 classes of full-day kindergarten—doubling the program from 1/3 to 2/3 of all PWCS kindergarten students
- Providing market-driven adjustments to teacher pay scales to help recruit and retain the most qualified; featuring a 3% step increase; an average of a 3% pay plan adjustment; and an additional 3.3% average increase for teachers in their first three years of teaching.
- Funding the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme at five schools.
- Expanding Baldrige in the Classroom to eight additional schools;
- Guaranteeing a six-hour minimum work week—to bus drivers who want it—along with and membership in the Virginia Retirement System to aid in recruitment and retention of drivers.
“You can feel assured that our budget supports what our children need in order to learn and what our staff needs in order to teach,” Superintendent Walts told the School Board.
A public meeting on the budget is slated for Monday, February 6, 7:30 p.m. at Hylton High School. Additional School Board budget review and mark-up sessions, and a public hearing will follow before Board approval of a final budget in late March.
The School Board Meeting containing the new budget presentation can be seen in its entirety on PWCS Channel 21:
Sundays at 6 p.m.; Mondays at 11 a.m.; Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.; and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.; through February 21.
See more budget information in the following links:
- Fondos del presupuesto nuevo propuesto para el 2007, aprendizaje/enseñanza - extender el programa de kindergarten a tiempo completo y mejorar el salario de los maestro para mantenerlo competitivo con otros distritos escolares es la prioridad que contiene el presupuesto del 2007, bajo la consideración de la Junta Directiva del las escuelas públicas del Condado de Prince William. Folleto en español del presupuesto
2/1/06
