Prince William County schools face cuts

Next year, teacher salaries will be frozen, class sizes will increase and some school renovation projects will be postponed in Prince William County, if Superintendent Steven L. Walts' proposed budget is approved.

The School Board got its first look at Walts' $744.5 million proposed operating budget for fiscal 2010 on Wednesday.

The budget, which is a 7 percent reduction from fiscal 2009's budget, includes many cuts to address what Walts called “the greatest budget deficit in our history.”

A total of $94 million had to be cut from the budget to deal with projected revenue shortfalls from both the state and the county, Walts said.

"For the first time in memory, our school division will receive less money than the year before," Walts said Wednesday.

He proposed a slew of cost-saving measures, including eliminating planned pay raises for employees, cutting some positions, raising maximum class sizes at most levels and eliminating funding for school repair projects.

He also proposed replacing the middle school athletic program with an intramural program. School officials said that would both save money and open the program to more students.

The maximum kindergarten class size in county schools would be raised from 28 to 29 students, the state limit. The number of teacher assistants would also be reduced in kindergarten. Classes with fewer than 25 students would share an assistant with another class. Classes with 25 or more students would still have one full-time assistant.

The maximum class size in first through fifth grades would also be raised, from 29 to 30 students, the state maximum.

Class sizes in some middle school and high school subjects would also be raised, to a maximum of 35 students, also the state maximum.

In addition, some high school electives would be eliminated.

No new school construction or renovation projects are funded in the proposed budget, Walts said.

But funding has been included to begin construction on the 11th high school, in the Linton Hall area, and to complete the replacement school project at Triangle Elementary School.

Funding is also included to complete school repair and renovation projects at Coles, Enterprise, Neabsco, Sinclair and Westgate elementary schools, which have already begun.

Walts and other school officials said they did not like making any of the proposed cuts, but some cuts must be made. "Cuts must be made and they will be painful to many," Walts said.

The are only two new items funded in the budget, Walts said. The first is about $368,000 needed to meet new state standards for testing Limited English Proficient students. Another $112,000 is included to continue the planning process for a proposed academic year governor's school in the area.

Walts also proposed raising some student fees to generate more revenue for the county schools. Student parking fees would increase from $50 to $100 and driver education fees would increase from $225 to $275. A new fee of $50 per sport would be charged for participation in high school sports.

School officials are projecting that enrollment will rise by 1,423 students next year, at a cost of $14 million. Total student enrollment is expected to reach 74,744 students next year.

School officials are also proposing using $18.6 million that will be left over in the fiscal 2009 budget to fund one-time expenses that otherwise would have been included in the fiscal 2010 budget.

Walts has proposed using that money to buy 15 replacement buses, purchase SmartBoards for schools, and begin renovation projects at Rippon and Godwin middle schools, among other things.

A public meeting on the superintendent's proposed budget will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at Hylton High School, 14951 Spriggs Road in Woodbridge.

The School Board will hold three work sessions on the budget, before holding a public hearing and voting on the budget on March 18.

For more information about the budget or to view the superintendent's presentation, visit www.pwcs.edu/finance/budget.html.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.