Arlington County students would sit in more crowded classrooms and pay higher activity fees as part of a $442 million schools budget introduced Tuesday.
That figure is about $3.5 million, or 1 percent, more than the current fiscal year’s budget. But it is meant to accommodate a more than 3 percent projected enrollment increase — from just more than 20,000 students this year to nearly 21,000 next fall.
Teachers would receive neither cost-of-living raises nor “step” increases based on years teaching and educational attainment.
Those moves alone would save the district nearly $10 million toward closing a budget shortfall of at least $13 million.
Unlike most of its neighbors, Arlington County does not expect any teacher layoffs, but could cut more than a dozen jobs from its central office. Because of its status as a “right to work” state, Virginia districts do not negotiate contracts with teachers unions.
As a result, Virginia districts have fewer barriers than in Maryland to suspending pay raises to manage budget shortfalls.
An additional half-million dollars in savings would come from charging students increased fees for reasons ranging from transcripts to driver’s education. Middle school athletes would pay a new $25 per sport participation fee, while high school athletes would pay $50 per sport.
Class sizes would go up by an average of one student per classroom for all grade levels except for fourth and fifth, accounting for almost $3 million in savings. “Even the increase by one student still keeps our kindergarten-through-third-grade class sizes below our neighbors, and well below [Virginia requirements],” said first-year Superintendent Patrick Murphy.
Murphy said the district plans to hire about 100 teachers to replace retirees and match the rising enrollment. In a typical year, the district hires closer to 225 teachers, he said. School Board Chairwoman Sally Baird said feedback came from across the county throughout the budget process — even from the nearly 90 percent of residents without children in the system.
