RICHMOND, Va. — Mayor Danny Avula proposed a nearly $249 million budget for Richmond Public Schools. According to his office, it's the largest budget allocated to the school system ever.
But educators say it's not enough, as it fell about $20 million below what was proposed earlier this year. The budget drew criticism during Monday's Richmond City Council meeting.
Critics say the $20 million not included are funds that RPS teachers including the president of the Richmond Education Association (REA) says could undercut the associations collective bargaining efforts.
"I fear that if RPS does not receive adequate funding for our collective bargaining agreements, unpopular cuts will be made in order to fund them. Or we’ll have to go back to the negotiation table," Anne Forester, an English teacher and the REA president, said.
Superintendent Jason Kamras wants it known that the division is keeping its commitments to the REA with a 3% bump in teacher salaries. That commitment, however, comes with the potential for cuts.
In a weekly address sent out to the RPS community Monday, Kamras said everything from closing out vacancies, cutting contracts and reducing expenditures are all on the table.
The shortfall reflects an ever present reality that there aren’t enough funds to go around — which a spokesperson with the mayor office acknowledged in a statement while touting that the “proposed budget proudly funds RPS over and above last year’s baseline.”
The spokesperson also says that in response to “looming federal uncertainty” that Mayor Avula prioritized “investing in staff—to keep and retain talented employees—to make the City more resilient and ready to face the challenges ahead."
City Council will have the final say on whether or not to approve Avula's allocation to RPS.
Kamras said he's working on a proposal for the school board to consider for its meetings in May regarding any potential cuts.
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