Fewer students, more spending and 24 Emotional Learning Coaches

Directly after the County Executive announced an overall Fund budget for FY2025 of $629MM the Albemarle County School Board Chair announced the FY2025 School Budget. Although the total government budget was balanced exactly even between revenues and expenses the School Board budget was proposed at a deficit in revenues compared to expenses. The School Board Chair is asking the Supervisors to add another $13MM to the $260MM allotted from the County Executive’s overall budget. Shown below is a graph depicting almost $20,000 a student cost (almost triple the figure from 15 years ago). The bar chart shows how students enrollment in public schools has not grown in 7 years. Coincidentally, Weldon-Cooper, the research group at University of Virginia reports population in the County has risen 4,000 since the 2020 census (vs zero for schools).

Last year ACPS hired 24 Social Emotional Learning Coaches, who “help students with their feelings and relationships,” using one-time federal American Rescue Plan (Covid) funds. Now Schools must fund those positions going forward to the tune of $13MM The schools portion of windfall taxes due to higher assessments is $10MM. So the cost of schools providing ersatz parents is about $5.6M this is for 24 positions plus three more in FY25 (for $2.6 million). The ACSB Chair’s presentation of use of Covid relief, use of taxpayer funds for ersatz parenting, stagnant to declining student census and now hiring even more social goal funding instead of educational goals begs the question: where is success? Sounds like failure to me.