The Fredericksburg City School Board voted Monday night to approve Superintendent Marci Catlett’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Only one person addressed the board during the public hearing on the budget, which totals $68.4 million in operating funds and represents a 5.7% increase from last year’s approved budget.
While Jessica Kujala praised the proposed 7% compensation increase for teachers, she observed that none of the 15 full-time equivalent positions included in the budget focused solely on science.
“We have the STEM labs, but we don’t have the physical bodies that can lead us in instruction,” Kujala said. “If we look at our SOL scores, this is one area that our city is really lacking in.”
FCPS Finance Director Larry Sorensen also offered an update on health insurance rates. The division’s cost are set to increase by 10.5%, but employees will be “held harmless,” said Sorensen, meaning they won’t see a rate hike.
For his part, Ward 1 representative Andy Wolfenbarger requested that the budget be updated with an additional column for any line item with a greater than 20% deviation from the previous year’s amount.
“I think it’s really important that we show our fiscal responsibility,” said Wolfenbarger, “and, if there are big increases, it’s clear to everybody.”
Ward 3 representative Annie Langdon seemed unwilling to approve the budget in its current form given uncertainties, including expected fluctuations in the state budget.
“With everything that you talked about that is still in flux, what are we actually voting on right now?” she asked Sorensen.
The vote was ultimately 4-1, with Langdon voting against approval. At-large member Molly McFadden was absent from the meeting due to a family emergency.
Fredericksburg City Council will take up its Fiscal Year 2027 budget for the first time at its March 10 meeting, making Monday’s vote a necessary first step in the budget process.
