There was one item among the $3.4 million in budget cuts proposed by Spotsylvania County Public Schools Superintendent Clint Mitchell and his staff that drew the ire of school board member Larry DiBella during a work session Monday night.
The budget initially approved by the school board included $100,000 for SCPS to begin participating in the FBI’s Rap Back Service program.
Rap Back would provide the school division with real-time ongoing notifications of criminal activity, such as arrests, charges, and convictions, for its employees. It would replace one-time, manual background checks in favor of continuous monitoring.
Mitchell said while he supports the program, the allotted funds wouldn’t have allowed the division to implement it for everyone. So, he and his staff decided to place it among the long list of deferrals required to balance the budget.
It’s ultimately up to the board to decide whether or not to keep the program in the budget, but DiBella and Battlefield District board member Jennifer Craig Ford expressed displeasure that it’s even proposed to be cut.
DiBella, a former Spotsylvania County deputy and school resource officer, said trimming $100,000 out of a $547.6 million budget for a program meant to protect students will cause the school division to lose credibility with a large portion of the community.
“I think the one thing that we need to do is make sure that our community knows that we are protecting their kids with the right people in place,” DiBella said … “I think that’s very important.”
SCPS has experienced multiple issues in the past two years with employees — including teachers — being arrested on or off school grounds for various offenses.
Press the Issue
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the FY27 budget and real estate tax rate at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Courtland High School. To speak, fill out the online form via the county’s Form Center by noon on the day of the meeting.
Mitchell said he “wholeheartedly” believes the division eventually needs to invest in the Rap Back program. He said the problem is that the proposed funding “doesn’t even scratch the surface of us implementing it for all new employees.”
“So, to me, if we can’t even implement it for all new employees, then why are we implementing it?” Mitchell said. “So, that really is the reason why I cut it. It’s not because I don’t believe in it. It’s because we can’t even do it for all employees who are coming in.”
Mitchell said the division needs to conduct a true cost analysis on the entire scope of the program, including all new hires and eventually all employees. He said it’s not fair to implement it and then select certain groups to enroll.
“If we’re going to do it, we need to do it well,” Mitchell said.
SCPS is awaiting the board of supervisors’ final decision on the real estate tax rate and funding for fiscal year 2027. The boards have a joint work session Tuesday, and the supervisors will conduct a public hearing on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Courtland High School.
After County Administrator Ed Petrovich presented his budget to the board of supervisors, school officials said there was a $5.8 million gap in local funding. But Chief Financial Officer Phillip Trayer said he’s expecting at least $3.1 million in operational funds from the state at the end of April based on the Senate’s budget proposal. The House of Delegates’ proposal includes $10.4 million in additional funding for schools, but $8.5 million of that would be one-time funding that can be spread over a two-year period.
Trayer said that typically Senate proposals are closer to the final reality.
For Mitchell, that meant making some difficult decisions. Craig Ford said she’s dismayed by the proposal to cut division counsel and a legal assistant to save $290,073.
“[It would] offset some costs [to] have a static cost for an attorney at a salary as opposed to paying our attorneys for every 15 minutes they do work for us,” Craig Ford said. “That’s one of the reasons I really support that.”
Craig Ford added that she understands nixing the legal assistant position to save $69,043 but would prefer to have a full-time attorney on site.
She also isn’t in favor of the proposed decrease in Career and Technical Education teachers in welding, culinary arts and health science from five to two, citing long waitlists for such programs.
“I would like to see a way that we could meet the needs of our students who are clearly looking at going into the trades as a more viable option, especially in this county,” Craig Ford said … “When we have expressed needs within a community and within our students that this is something they need, it doesn’t sit well with me to cut that from our budget.”
Staff’s revised budget also cuts a new elementary school teacher at John J. Wright Educational and Cultural Center, which serves as the county’s alternative school. Salem District representative Lorita Daniels questioned that cut, but Mitchell said it was removed from the budget because the division can survive without the position for at least another year.
Board Chair Megan Jackson said it’s “upsetting” that despite the strides the county has made in funding the division, there are still many required cuts. The budget also decreases the cost-of-living adjustment for principals, assistant principals, division directors, chiefs and the superintendent from 2.7% to 2%. Trayer said increased health care costs are the main culprit for the budget issues.
Mitchell reminded the board that when he was hired, the local funding gap was $46.8 million. The past two years, he said it would take at least three years to incrementally close the gap, but now he isn’t quite sure it will be that soon. He said when the board members review the cuts and return with recommendations, they’ll be faced with tough decisions, as well.
“It’s a very difficult process and it’s just one of those things where it’s going to be painful as we move forward until we get there,” Mitchell said. “I said three years. It may be four. I don’t know. It may be seven. I hope not.”
