A public hearing about a $547.3 million budget proposal from Spotsylvania County Public Schools Superintendent Clint Mitchell ended with a focus on $36,500 for a group of passionate marching band supporters who spoke out Monday night.
That’s how much extra support Mitchell negotiated to provide the county’s five high school marching bands. The bands initially requested $25,000 apiece to cover a portion of expenses that supporters said will reduce yearly student fees, which run as high as $450.
Lee Hill District representative Rich Lieberman, who helped spearhead the effort, whittled the request down to $10,000 in his formal proposal, but received little support from his fellow board members who expressed concern about setting a precedent for other organizations.
Vice Chair Belen Rodas of the Chancellor District said the board’s resources and attention can be spent more wisely than “cherry picking” expenses for one activity. Rodas and Mitchell stressed that issues like this should be addressed with building administrators before the school board.
“I don’t think it’s the appropriate role of this board to be managing at this level,” Rodas said.
Just as some board members were prepared to shoot down Lieberman’s proposal, Mitchell countered by offering $5,000 to each school to cover expenses, and an additional $2,300 to provide the marching bands at Chancellor, Courtland, Massaponax, Riverbend and Spotsylvania high schools with one extra stipend for an assistant instructor. Each band has a yearly budget of $60,000 to $65,000 which is mostly met by fees and fundraising.
Berkeley District representative Larry DiBella was incredulous that Lieberman’s proposal was met with skepticism from division officials and board members Rodas (Chancellor District), Carol Medawar (Courtland District), and Jennifer Craig Ford (Battlefield District). Lorita Daniels (Salem District) expressed support for the funding, and Chair Megan Jackson (Livingston District) was absent.
Mitchell’s proposed budget included multiple new positions with salaries over $200,000 per year and teacher raises ranging from $3,500 to $6,700 per year. DiBella said while he’s grateful for the additional funds for teachers, he would like to see resources go directly to students, as well.
“We have this budget process for a reason,” DiBella said. “All of us were elected to represent the people in our community, and we have a public hearing for a reason. You heard the vast majority of the public hearing today was about funding a need in our community … God forbid we ask that we actually do something that goes to our kids.”
Lieberman, citing a lack of support from fellow board members, was prepared to concede defeat in his effort for more funding for the marching bands.
He heard Mitchell note that bands received a 50% increase in funding a year ago; and that band directors, principals and boosters were not on the same page when discussing needs.
Lieberman also heard Chief Financial Officer Phillip Trayer say that his comparison of the ratio between band students to instructors and athletes to coaching staff wasn’t a fair way to look at the situation.
Mitchell said the request could’ve been handled without the “fanfare” of marching band supporters addressing the school board at the public hearing.
“Something can be done internally, so we’re not putting band parents against the school board because I think that’s what’s kind of happening,” Mitchell said. “We need to stop it because that’s not why we’re here.”
Lieberman expressed satisfaction at the outcome of $7,300 of extra funding to the bands but added that he’s looking forward to taking an incremental approach to addressing the issue going forward. Daniels said she would like to see a line-by-line breakdown of the way the additional funds will be used in the future.
As for the rest of the budget, division staff will present a revised version to the board next week with a local funding gap of $14.6 million. The board added $356,459 to the budget during Monday’s work session.
“We have new legislators in Richmond, so between the county and potentially new revenue from Richmond, that [gap] may very well close,” said Trayer, the CFO. “We won’t be sure until the budget process is completed. It’s probably going to be a combination of additional state revenue and whatever the county board of supervisors is able to appropriate.”
The next school board meeting will be held at the John J. Wright Educational and Cultural Center in honor of Black History Month.
In other business, former Deputy Superintendent Kelly Guempel, a longtime employee in the division who served as interim superintendent before Mitchell was hired, began a new job as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools in southwest Virginia this past Monday. Mitchell said no determination has been made on hiring or promoting someone to Guempel’s former position, calling it a human resources matter.
