Prince William slashes school budget by $10 Million

In February, Prince William County Schools Superintendent Steve Walts submitted his six-priority budget proposal for the 2020-2021 school year. The proposal, unique in nature, included 2.1 million to support student mental health, 4.8 million to support college/career/military readiness, and a 2.8% raise for teachers and staff. 

The budget, and many of the aforementioned parts of it, has been slashed, as the Prince William Board of Supervisors approved a decrease of $10 million during their meeting on May 19, and the school board adopted it during their meeting on May 20. 

This budget cut comes due to the loss of $35 million in county revenue, and $17 million in state revenue, according to figures provided by Prince William County Schools. The loss of revenue is mainly to blame on the new coronavirus, as it has caused major job losses due to the forced closure of non-essential businesses and stay-at-home orders. 

Prince William County Schools has received $9.3 million from Virginia’s $239 million allocations from the CARES Act coronavirus recovery funding authorized by President Donald Trump on March 27, to make up for those revenue shortfalls.

Walts first proposed these budget cuts during the school board meeting on May 6, as well as the deferral of many school-based projects, such as the adding of artificial turf and lighting to high school sports fields. 

In his proposal, it was announced that funding for economically disadvantaged students and additional guidance counselors would be reduced. The budget maintains 163.5 new school-based positions, including 155 additional teachers, a part-time psychologist, five additional social workers, and three new school counselors.  

“It’s disappointing to be so excited about many of the initiatives… But we want to make absolutely sure we can pay our bills because we have to have a balanced budget and this is our reality,” said Walts. 

These are the newly approved budget cuts:

• Instruction: $904 million (down by $2 million from the initial $906 million)
• Administration, health, and attendance: $88.6 million (reduced by nearly $1 million from $90.5 million)
• Student transportation: $60 million (down by about $5 million from $65.8 million)
• Facilities: $226.4 million (this was reduced by $100,000 dollars from the initial $227 million)