Budget conversations continue between Roanoke City and Roanoke City Public Schools. Newly appointed City Manager Valmarie Turner emphasized transparency as a priority, stating that the city’s spending is currently outpacing revenue during the March 3 joint meeting with Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke City School Board.
RELATED: ROANOKE CITY BUDGET TALKS BEGIN, SCHOOL FUNDING IN DISCUSSION
During the meeting Superintendent Dr. Verletta White said, “We will face an additional nearly $7 million shortfall, that would mean eliminating vacant positions both at the school and central office levels. School-based vacancies may also remain open, potentially increasing class sizes.”
The school system’s chief financial officer, Kathleen Jackson, sent a memo to White after the meeting. The seven-page document includes Jackson’s notes and takeaways from the meeting and questions as discussions continue.
“We are hearing some assumptions from community members that revenue is down and that is why the city is talking about reducing school funding. Just to clarify, city revenue is up. The amount of funding in question is the portion of that increase that current City Council policy says is intended to support schools,” said Jackson in the memo.
Jackson’s questions following the joint meeting include:
- Why is the funding formula, which was just thoroughly evaluated and amended last year, seemingly now deemed inappropriate? Other localities, particularly in larger communities, put just as much local revenue, if not more, into education.
- If other localities invest as much, if not more, of a percentage of local revenue into their public schools, why is it seemingly such a hardship for Roanoke City?
- Why are the two high schools built 16 years ago and one elementary school (presumably Fallon Park Elementary) being blamed for the city’s current financial challenges?
- Has the city looked into its budgeting in other areas to ensure those spending levels are appropriate? The city has indicated publicly that they have found problems with budgeting and spending decisions made by past city administration, yet no specifics have been mentioned about how the city is evaluating city functions and departments to ensure that expenditures there are appropriate.
Jackson also questioned some of the challenges presented during the joint meeting, including overtime and employees below a living wage.
“One of the challenges the city administration has cited is that over 300 city employees are below a living wage,” wrote Jackson. “The City Manager stated that living wage threshold is $42,000. For a full-time position, typically estimated at 2,080 hours, that would be an hourly wage of $20.20. Does this mean that the city’s intent is to get their minimum wage for full-time employees up to $20.20 per hour? RCPS was proud to get our minimum wage for all positions to at least $15/hour three years ago, but we would have a long way to go to get everyone up over $20/hour. Currently, RCPS has 584 employees who make less than the city’s stated living wage threshold.”
Jackson also said in the memo there’s an implication that schools have “more money than needed.”
“The City Manager also stated the past support of schools ‘helped develop a very healthy undesignated fund balance and capital projects in fund balance’ for the schools. Given that this was pointed out in the context of discussing reducing school funding, I have to infer that this is seen as a negative by city administration,” Jackson wrote.
“RCPS ended 2023-24 with $22,855,561 in unassigned fund balance. This level does not come close to meeting the city’s own specified requirement for fund balance reserves. The city’s fund balance reserve policies combined require that 15% of general fund expenditures be available as unassigned fund balance reserves. Were RCPS to follow suit, we would be required to have $33.8 million in unassigned fund balance in the general fund.”
Kathleen Jackson, RCPS Chief Financial Officer
Jackson said in the memo, the schools have always worked to be prepared to cover any challenges or unexpected downturns without going to the city to ask for more funding to cover the shortfall writing, “Having revenue exceed expenditures is desirable and a responsible way for localities, and school divisions, to operate to ensure reserves exist for unforeseen challenges. Under the current funding policy, the funding of schools is limited to what is stated in policy.”
You can read more about the funding formula in the memo we’ve attached below this article.
Jackson also brings up what the future holds for the current funding policy and formula writing, “The Mayor said Monday that there had been no discussion of eliminating the funding formula and that eliminating it was not being considered. I would respectfully submit that having a policy but just not abiding by it is the same, if not worse, than eliminating it altogether, as this misleads the public. Is it the Council’s intent to keep their policy on funding schools in place and just not follow it? If so, is that legal? Is it their intent to amend it again this year? If so, will they amend it again next year? A policy that is changed every year is not really a policy as it becomes meaningless if it cannot be relied upon.”
10 News sent the school system’s memo to Roanoke City, asking for comment and an interview with City Manager Valmarie Turner. We were told Turner was not available for an interview Thursday and they sent the following statement:
“The City of Roanoke’s budget is currently in development, and this process requires careful consideration to ensure that resources are allocated effectively to meet the needs of our community, including vital services such as public safety, infrastructure, and education, as well as employee compensation. As we continue refining the budget, things remain fluid, and we are working diligently to balance priorities in a way that best serves our residents, businesses, and schools. The proposed budget will be presented to City Council on March 24, at which point further details will be available.”
Valmarie Turner, City Manager
The Roanoke Central Council PTA (RCCPTA) is encouraging everyone to sign up to speak to Roanoke City Council on Monday, March 17, and advocate for Roanoke City Schools. If you can’t be there, they say you can call or email council members as well to share your thoughts.
“I cannot emphasize how important it is that we, as parents and voters, advocate for the City of Roanoke to spend our tax dollars on the future of our children. We can make a difference, but we have to speak up and be loud. If we don’t advocate for our children, who will?” said RCCPTA President Jessica Blandy in an email to school PTAs.
Blandy and the RCCPTA have been vocal recently about the budget discussions with the city. Read the full document here.
“Despite responsible financial management, RCPS is now being asked to do more with less. Already, due to changes at the state and federal level, RCPS is facing a $2 million shortfall this year. If the city withholds the $6.7 million increase that RCPS is owed, RCPS will face a nearly $9 million shortfall,” Blandy wrote in an advocacy update to PTAs.
“Since 2011, RCPS has benefited from a funding policy that allocates 40% of most local tax revenues to the school system. This arrangement has provided stability and predictability, allowing RCPS to plan effectively for student needs. In reality, this figure is already closer to 32% because RCPS pays the city back for school resource officers and all debt service on capital projects like new schools. Last year, City Council voted to change the policy to only provide RCPS with 40% of budgeted revenues rather than actual revenues. It is unclear how the city’s request for a level-funded budget would be done — through a one-time exception, amendment, or elimination? Mayor Joe Cobb has stated that the city has never discussed eliminating the policy; but City Council has still not publicly discussed how this change would occur on a practical level, if a level-funded budget is required,” said the advocacy update email.
During an interview Friday with 10 News, Dr. Verletta White emphasized a need for clarity to continue programming for classrooms, teachers, the school environment as well as the community. “We have been able to not only make promises, we’ve been able to keep our promises. And we are in good financial standing because of it,” she stated.
“We are grateful for the city’s partnership, and we are grateful for this support that we have received from the city and from our community for the various things that we are accomplishing for our students. We have a 40% policy, as you know, when it comes to the revenue, city’s revenue, actual revenues. And we would just like to maintain that,” she said.
Dr. Verletta White, RCPS Superintendent
Here’s the memo that the chief financial officer sent to the superintendent after the joint meeting outlining concerns:
