CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Chesterfield County School Superintendent Dr. Merv Daugherty unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2021 operating budget Tuesday afternoon, which includes nearly a $100 million increase in school funding.
The $99.9 million dollar increase in funding is part of what Daugherty calls a “no-frills budget.”
The budget would provide support for teachers and support staff at a time when the school system expects an additional 1200 new students every year for the next five years.
Daugherty says the added funding doesn't need to come with a tax increase, citing real estate collections has the capacity to help with the increased funding.
The superintendent also says part of the money is aimed at keeping quality teachers in Chesterfield classrooms and ending what he calls a “pay crisis.”
"The proposed operating budget would provide our teachers with the largest pay increase in nearly a decade," said Daugherty. "Chesterfield teachers with a bachelors or master's degree would see between a 3 and 13 percent increase in their salary. We want to get rid of the compression scale and go back to a salary scale that we believe our educators are rightly due.”
Part of the proposed increase would provide a 2 percent increase for instructional support staff and give bus drivers a .75 cent an hour increase.
The budget also funds hiring additional nurses so there is a nurse in every school in the County.
Daugherty will present the new budget proposal to the Chesterfield County School Board Tuesday evening.
