Schools in Prince William have an infrastructure deficit

Prince William County Schools are currently suffering from an infrastructure deficit. Evidence of this fact is found in the size of our classrooms, we have the most overcrowded in not only the region but also the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. This issue must be addressed, but it’s important to first understand how we got here and what policy changes must be made to correct course.

Much of what the School Board is given to work with stems from the policy decisions made by our Board of County Supervisors, particularly in the areas of taxation and land use. Indeed the approval of new residential development in the last decade has contributed greatly to our public school total enrollment growing from 68,234 in 2005 to 86,209 in 2014. Our locally elected Boards share in responsibility for the current state of our schools. County tax dollars, which help fund the school system along with State and Federal monies, are collected by the Board of County Supervisors and give approximately 57% of those revenues to our School Board in the form of the Revenue Sharing Agreement.

We are one of only two jurisdictions in Virginia that implements an instrument such as the Revenue Sharing Agreement. Implicit in that agreement is that the School Board will: budget, prioritize & maximize County tax dollars to leverage the best school system possible here in Prince William County. Unfortunately our currently elected School Board has not been successful at this task. County schools spend less per pupil than any other county in Northern Virginia. Our students have the lowest ACT and SOL scores amongst their neighbors in the region.

From the School Board perspective policy change needs to occur to correct this inefficient course we are on. We are currently building the most expensive high school in the history of this state along with an Olympic Size pool just to use one example of this school system siphoning money out of the classrooms. Our teachers have seen little in the way of competitive wages over the last 5 years. This has had an impact on both recruitment and retention. A school system is judged on its education in the classroom, not the beauty of its facilities or their respective amenities.

As School Board Chairperson I will work with the Board of Supervisors to influence policy helpful to our Schools, but within the Supervisors’ purview. I will better prioritize spending to send more money directly to the classroom to reduce class sizes, provide for competitive wages for personnel other than central administration, and find the most efficient use of tax dollars for capital projects. A continuation of our current policies will fail to address the infrastructure deficit our school system is suffering from.

*Tracy Conroy is a candidate for Prince William County School Board Chairman.