Adding Henrico Teachers Proposed: Plan for School Budget Also Includes Salary Increase of 4 Percent
By Holly Prestidge, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jan. 26–Henrico County’s $477.2 million budget proposal to run the school system in 2007-08 includes money for a 4 percent across-the-board pay increase and more than 75 new teaching positions.
The proposal, presented to the School Board last night by Superintendent Fred Morton IV, represents a 7 percent increase over this year’s budget.
The spending plan now will be discussed at a series of workshops before going to the School Board, then to the Board of Supervisors, for approval.
In addition to the $12.6 million earmarked for salaries and benefits, $250,000 has been included for bus-driver salary adjustments.
The new teacher positions called for in the budget proposal include 22 at the high school level, 10 in middle school 14.5 in elementary school, and 25 for special education. The rest are in career and technical education.
The school division’s average pupil-teacher ratio in elementary school has dropped from 23.2 students per teacher in 1997 to 20 students per teacher last year. In high school, the number has dropped to 20 students per teacher from 21.7 students in that same time frame.
However, Morton cautioned that while the division is moving in the right direction, there are still schools that experience pupil-teacher ratios that exceed 30 students in a classroom.
Sherri Arnold, president of the Henrico Education Association, addressed the School Board and asked that it consider changing the salary step schedule so that teachers in the midranges — particularly those with 9 to 13 and 15 to 17 years of experience — move up the scale more quickly.
She recommended that teachers with 15 credit hours toward a postgraduate degree be moved one step higher on the salary scale, and that core classes such as English and math be allowed no more than 25 students.
Contact staff writer Holly Prestidge at hprestidge@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6945.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.