The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors and the school board found a bit of common ground during a joint work session Tuesday night.
The gathering came just as the board of supervisors is preparing for a public hearing on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Courtland High School to discuss the fiscal year 2027 budget, tax rates, and 2027-31 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
The mutual understanding that the boards came to is centered around the school division’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program.
School board members said the program, which currently has 660 students on the waiting list, is popular among students, creates incentives for attendance and gives the county youth who aren’t interested in college a pathway to a successful future.
The supervisors support CTE because a robust program is attractive to businesses and developers that they’re looking to lure to the county as those employers are seeking a trained workforce.
However, although both sides see the value in CTE, three teaching positions in welding, culinary arts and health science were cut from the division’s latest budget proposal.
Superintendent Clint Mitchell said he supports CTE as an alternative to college. He noted, however, that it was a college education that brought him to the table Tuesday after migrating to the U.S. from St. Lucia, where he worked for his family on a banana plantation.
“I want to make sure all of us don’t lose that thought in our process as we make budget decisions,” Mitchell said of a four-year college degree. “We want every kid to be able, if possible, to get an IB diploma; we want every kid, if possible, to go to the Governor’s School; we want every kid to get AP classes or dual enrollment, because we know the more education we have, the more you’re going to be able to earn a higher wage and be a more productive citizen. So, while CTE is important for our school division … I don’t want to lose the fact that at the end of the day we want to get kids enrolled [in college].”
Supervisor Chris Yakabouski, who represents the Battlefield District, didn’t fully agree with Mitchell’s comments. He said the college path isn’t for everyone, even those who may enroll initially, but “flunk out and they feel even worse because they don’t know what they’re doing.”
“I think the more opportunities that are put in front of them from a young age, the better,” Yakabouski said … “It’s about opportunities, I believe. I think the one thing we do horribly as a society is we don’t value hard work no matter what it is. We sort of [say], ‘These are the kinds of jobs, if you don’t go to school, you’re going to get and that’s the worst thing in the world.’ For some people, it isn’t. Good, honest, hardworking people that dedicate their lives to doing that have incredible value in our society.”
School Board Vice Chair Belen Rodas, Courtland District representative Carol Medawar and Lorita Daniels of the Salem District told the supervisors they were grateful for the meeting and the opportunity to advocate for more funds for the division, including for CTE.
They encouraged the supervisors to examine the items Mitchell and his staff cut prior to a school board work session Monday night and see if there’s anything on the list that they can fund.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Phillip Trayer said Monday that the division had to trim $3.4 million to balance its budget to what it expects to receive from the board of supervisors and the state.
The supervisors voted to advertise a real estate tax rate of 77 cents per $100 of assessed value, which can be decreased but cannot be increased once the final vote takes place. The 77-cent rate is the same numerically as last year but represents an 8-cent increase after reassessments are factored into the equation.
“I appreciate the passion that you all bring to the problem,” Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Drew Mullins told the school board members … “If there’s a way we can help you in more ways, we will, but be mindful of the fact that this year the impact on the people that are giving us the money, the taxpayers, is over 8 cents.”
Mullins said while it may be tough to provide additional funding this year, he expressed a willingness to return to the table next year for the fiscal year 2028 budget with an eye on providing more for the schools.
“Next year won’t be an assessment year,” Mullins said. “So, if we keep this trend and momentum going, I think we can continue to take big bites out of the problem.”
First-year school board member Rich Lieberman of the Lee Hill District requested that the supervisors end categorically funding the schools, a move that was implemented in 2022 when former Superintendent Mark Taylor was leading the division and the board’s chaotic nature made national headlines.
Categorical funding means the supervisors allocate the funds in the schools’ budget for specific programs and services. Lieberman noted that six of the seven current school board members weren’t serving when the plan was implemented four years ago. No supervisors immediately responded to his request. Lieberman said categorial funding adds to the county and school division’s workload.
“I get it because we were a mess,” Lieberman said of the initial decision … “I’m going to ask if you guys can consider in this budget to drop the categorical funding and trust this board. It’ll help with the public’s perception of how these two boards work together. If we step in it, you can always go back the very next year.”
