School System Budget Includes Raises, New Positions

School System Budget Includes Raises, New Positions
Superintendent Lou Taylor speaks to commissioners during a budget work session Tuesday. Photo by Charlene Sharpe

SNOW HILL– The county’s education spending is set to increase by close to $4 million in the coming year’s budget.

In a budget work session with the Worcester County Commissioners Tuesday, Worcester County Board of Education officials reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2023 spending plan. With $1.8 million more in required maintenance of effort funding and $2.1 million in additional recurring expenses, the budget is 4.1% higher than last year.

“I want to assure you of my confidence that the FY 2023 budget is one that addresses the needs of all our students as they progress into their educational futures,” Superintendent Lou Taylor said.

The school system’s proposed FY 23 budget of $124 million includes $101,188,605—or 81.43%—from Worcester County and $22,287,191—or 17.93%—from the state. Vince Tolbert, the school system’s chief financial officer, said expenditure increases included $4 million for raises. That would provide a step, a 4% cost-of-living-adjustment for certificated staff and a 4.5% cost-of-living-adjustment for support staff.

“Our support staff are our lower paid employees and we always try to give an extra half percent for those employees when we can,” Tolbert said.

The budget also includes an increased board member allowance. School board members are currently paid $6,000 and the school board president is paid $6,500. The proposed budget would increase those rates to $7,000 and $7,500.

The budget also includes funding for five new positions—three secretaries, an instructional technology coach and a nurse—as well as money for some capital projects. The school system plans to spend $80,000 on roof design at two schools and $125,000 on a feasibility study for Buckingham Elementary School, which is the school system’s next major construction project.

The proposed budget also includes rate increases for bus drivers. The budget would bump the hourly rate for bus contractors from $22.58 to $25. It would also increase the mileage rate from $1.6 to $1.62 and the per-vehicle-allotment (PVA) from $20,115 to $20,920. Because bus drivers shared pay concerns with the commissioners at a recent meeting, Tolbert reviewed the budget meetings the school system held with the bus contractors.

“Their initial ask was $1.5 million which is about a 25% increase,” Tolbert said. “I said at the time that’s a huge ask in one year and probably would not happen.”

He said the school system initially planned to spend $180,000 to boost bus contractors’ pay but amended that to $247,000 in the budget. He said the average bus contract in Worcester County would be worth more than $76,000 next year, which is higher than the average contract in Somerset or Wicomico counties. Tolbert noted they also received an extra fuel allotment when prices fluctuated the way they have in recent weeks.

Commissioner Ted Elder, a retired bus driver, said he still had concerns with the rates drivers were paid. He said that since 2019, the portions of the school system’s budget devoted to instructional salaries and administration had increased at a greater rate than the portion related to student transportation.

“So there definitely is a problem,” he said. “There’s a reason the bus contractors have been here. We need to straighten that stuff out.”

Lori Thompson of the Worcester County School Bus Contractors Association also voiced concerns. She outlined the PVA, as that rate was questioned by the commissioners earlier this month.  The $20,115 PVA is paid to the contractor each year, she said.

“Most buses are in service for 12 years,” Thompson said. “That’s $241,000.”

A $2,000 monthly bus payment, however, means contractors are spending $24,000 a year on bus payments for the first eight years.

Thompson added that bus drivers didn’t get retirement and were able to get health insurance through the school system only if they paid the entire cost themselves. Thompson urged officials to take into consideration the concerns being raised by the contractors who’d spent decades transporting local children.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful but quite frankly saying that we’re better than Somerset, better than Wicomico, is like saying we’re the best horse in the glue factory,” Thompson said.

The county’s overall budget was introduced with an $11 million shortfall this month. In recent weeks, the commissioners have asked departments to start presenting budget cuts to eliminate the gap. While several departments presented possible cuts during Tuesday’s work session, Tolbert said the school system had made its cuts before submitting the budget. He said the school system was covering a half a percent of the cost-of-living adjustment with $355,000 it had on hand. He said Taylor had also worked with principals to reduce the number of new positions requested from 15 to five. The school system also negotiated teacher salaries.

“These steps resulted in major reductions, approximately $7 million less in the proposed budget than would have been submitted to our county commissioners had we not taken those steps to keep our budget reasonable and fiscally responsible,” Tolbert said.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.