Stafford Education Association President Matthew Lentz said Tuesday night that he and his family moved to the county from Arizona in 2018 because of education-funding problems there.
They worried that the children couldn’t get a good education, and just last week, Lentz learned that his former district in Arizona is closing some schools.
He doesn’t want to see a repeat of that scenario in Stafford.
“I live here, I work here and I want to stay here. I really do,” he told the Board of Supervisors. “And I would like to see our schools fully funded.”
Lentz was among a group of education-backers, some of them clad in red T-shirts, who took their case for school funding to the supervisors.
They were among a surprisingly small crowd who turned out for public hearings on Stafford’s proposed tax rates and county budget for the next fiscal year, hearings that typically draw lots of speakers because they concern taxes and money for community services.
In February, County Administrator Bill Ashton proposed a $1.12 billion local government budget for the next fiscal year that would increase the real-estate tax rate by 6 cents.
The spending plan calls for raising the tax rate from the current figure of $0.9236 per $100 of assessed value to $0.985. And the county fire levy also would go up, from $0.0131 per $100 of valuation to $0.014.
The supervisors agreed last month to advertise Ashton’s proposed tax rates, which essentially means they can later set lower levies but not higher ones. It creates a sort of tax-rate ceiling.
The Stafford School Board is requesting a $10.6 million increase in local funding this year to support operating costs associated with three new schools, along with $8 million for staff compensation and benefits. Combined, the total funding increase request is $18.6 million.
Ashton proposed a bit more than a $15 million increase for education in his budget, and School Board members and supervisors will continue to discuss that funding gap. The two boards are scheduled to meet April 16.
On Tuesday, Roane and Kenneth Furlong, who live in the Hartwood District, also spoke in favor of money for the schools.
Roane Furlong, a senior at Mountain View High School, said she’s concerned that, without enough funding, teachers could leave the school division, causing special programs such as Advanced Placement and career and technical education to be dissolved.
“Do you really want to be responsible for the future NASA scientist to not get into the college they want because they can’t take advanced math because of low enrollment?” she asked supervisors.
Her father, Kenneth Furlong, continued that line of reasoning, also mentioning worry that students who aren’t college-bound could be affected.
Cutting specialized classes “decreases their ability to enter the workforce for programs like cosmetology when we take students that are in the advanced stages of those programs and deny them the ability to complete their licensing,” he said.
Other speakers Tuesday included those pushing for funding for community agencies Legal Aid Works and the Brisben Center homeless shelter.
The county would donate $11,000 to Legal Aid Works under Ashton’s proposal, up from nothing in the current budget. The Brisben Center would get $60,000, the same as it received this fiscal year.
County officials expect to hear more public comment on the budget at future meetings, especially April 28, when the supervisors are scheduled to approve a spending plan.
