School Board approves 2022-2023 budget

Posted: April 1, 2022

During the meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, the Newport News School Board unanimously approved the Superintendent's Proposed Operating Budget for the 2022-2023 school year. The $359.4 million budget includes a 5% salary increase for all contracted employees in addition to experience adjustments for eligible support staff.

The School Board Approved Budget continues to address employee compensation
With the approved budget, the average teacher salary increase would be 6.5%, based on compensation increases which range from 5%-7%. The starting salary for new teachers with a bachelor's degree with no prior experience would increase from $47,200 to $50,000.

The budget also includes funding to increase the minimum starting pay to $15 an hour for all support staff employees who are currently below that amount and experience adjustments for eligible current employees.

Proposed Salary Increases At-A-Glance

5% Salary Increase	All Contracted Employees
Compression Adjustments	Eligible Teachers
Experience Adjustments	Eligible Instructional Assistants, Transportation Staff, Custodial Staff, Child Nutrition Staff, Security Officers and Nurses

To attract and retain bus drivers, the starting salary will increase from $15.80 to $20.16 an hour. Based on this adjustment, current bus drivers with up to 14 years (1-14) of service will receive the appropriate wage between the minimum and midpoint of the salary scale based on their completed years of service in their current position with NNPS. Drivers with 15 completed years will be placed at the midpoint of the salary range, $26.76 per hour. Drivers with more than 15 years (16-29 years) of service will receive the appropriate wage on the salary scale between the midpoint and maximum based on their completed years of service in their current position with NNPS and those with 30 years or more of service will receive $34.83 per hour. Newport News Public Schools is offering a recruitment incentive of $2,000 for new bus drivers as well as a $3,000 bus driver referral bonus for current NNPS employees.

One-Time Bonus for all eligible current employees
The School Board also approved a one-time bonus for current employees payable by Monday, March 28, 2022:

A net $1,000 bonus paid in a lump sum for

Current, full-time, contracted employees hired on or before January 31, 2022
Current long-term substitute teachers and long-term substitute instructional assistants with assignments that started on or before January 31, 2022 and have continued in the long-term assignment to March 22, 2022

A net $500 bonus paid in a lump sum for

Current full-time, contracted employees hired on or after February 1, 2022
Current part-time, contracted employees hired on or before January 31, 2022
Current long-term substitute teachers and long-term substitute instructional assistants with assignments that started on or after February 1, 2022 and continued in the long-term assignment to March 22, 2022

A net $250 bonus paid in a lump sum for

Current part-time, contracted employees hired on or after February 1, 2022

Superintendent Dr. George Parker said, "This has been a challenging year. This bonus is an acknowledgment of our employee's hard work in meeting the daily demands of our school division while dealing with an increase in vacant positions. This bonus is a token of our appreciation for all that they do."

Approved Budget Highlights
The School Board Approved Budget continues funding for all current initiatives and departments and is aligned with Journey 2025, the Newport News Public Schools strategic plan.

The retention and recruitment of skilled, professional staff continues to be a priority.

Funding is included to provide a 5% salary increase for all contracted employees, and to continue addressing compression in teacher salary scales and support staff pay scales.
The budget also includes funding to increase the minimum starting pay to $15 an hour for all support staff employee groups, and provide experience and/or compression adjustments for eligible support staff.
The budget includes an additional investment in employee tuition assistance, professional development and career advancement training.

The approved budget also focuses on programs and staffing needs in six areas: student wellness and mental health services, middle school sports, English Language Learners (ELL), technology services, school security, and student assessment.

Meeting students' mental health needs is a team effort in NNPS. The budget includes the addition of five mental health therapists, one student support specialist and one school counselor.
The budget includes initial funding for the expansion of middle school sports to include football, boys and girls soccer, wrestling and cheerleading.
Additional staffing changes are also necessary to support the growing ELL population. The spending plan includes adding more teachers, an assessment specialist and three bilingual teaching assistants.
The budget funds the addition of one instructional technology coordinator and one network infrastructure specialist to ensure continued success in supporting the one-to-one student computer initiative.
Other staffing needs include the addition of one records specialist to support the maintenance of academic records, an additional security officer position to support the inclusion of the eighth grade at Huntington Middle School, and one additional test coordinator to support new state testing requirements for grades three through eight.

The spending plan includes funding to address ongoing safety and infrastructure needs.

The budget continues to fund the replacement of school public announcement and clock systems, security cameras and fire and intrusion systems.
Funding is included for technology including the replacement of some student computers and network security upgrades.
To address growing capital needs, funding is also allocated for building maintenance and the replacement of equipment.

The spending plan represents a 6.7% increase over this year's budget. Funding for the budget is based on the Governor's proposed budget which was released in December 2021. To support new initiatives, this budget includes a projected $2.8 million increase in revenue from the City of Newport News.

The School Board approved budget will be submitted to the City of Newport News by April 1, 2022. This budget was developed based on an anticipated state increase of $19.8 million in revenue. As of today, we have not received a final state budget from the General Assembly. In the event of a change in forecasted revenue, an amendment to this budget would be necessary to reflect either an increase or decrease in state or local revenue.

This budget will ensure that Newport News Public Schools remains at the top of Peninsula school divisions for employee compensation. NNPS is committed to ensuring that employees earn a living wage in our school division while remaining dedicated to serving our students and families.