Teachers may not see pay increase

By Brandon Shulleeta

Published: October 1, 2008

Albemarle county and school officials left a joint meeting uncertain Wednesday how much of a salary increase staff and teachers will receive next fiscal year — if any.

County staff painted a grim picture of the state of the economy and projected a scenario where the local government will face a $5.5 million budget shortfall in fiscal 2010, and the schools will have a $10.3 million deficit.

“It’s bad now all over,” said School Board member Pamela Moynihan, “but we just have to accept it and deal with it as best we can.”

The question of how to deal with the shortfall was far from answered. The Board of Supervisors and School Board held a joint meeting Wednesday afternoon that went into the evening, but no action was taken to accept any assumptions about future budget figures.

Officials began a discussion about employee compensation but ended the meeting by saying that they had to digest all of the grim news about the economy and budget projections. They’ll meet again in a month or so.

“Today was not about answers,” School Board Chairman Brian Wheeler said. “It was about the challenges we face.”

Schools Superintendent Pamela Moran is expected to give a funding request later this year for the School Board to review. Board members ultimately will present the school division’s funding request to the Board of Supervisors.

The prospect of employees, including teachers, not receiving any salary increase at all next fiscal year was an option that was left on the table by several officials.

“I don’t think there’s anything not on the table,” Moran said specifically about teacher raises. She said that failing to give teachers pay increases is something that nobody wants to see and would only be considered as a last resort.

Wheeler said failing to increase teacher salaries is not a reasonable way to help solve the budget dilemma.

Moynihan said that while “everything is on the table,” she believes “somehow we’ll get through it.” She said she hopes that failing to increase teacher salaries isn’t part of the equation.

“The education of the kids has to come first, because we can’t shortchange our future,” Moynihan said. “And, of course, having a good teacher in the classroom is central to that.”

Part of the challenge, however, is balancing everyone’s needs, she said, noting that there are other core services, such as public safety, that the county cannot ignore.

The local government and school division are already trying to bridge a roughly $4 million funding gap for this fiscal year.