Spotsy's Taylor suggests local funds for teacher raises may be used for other expenses

County funds earmarked for giving raises to school division staff may not be used for that purpose, Superintendent Mark Taylor suggested in an email to County Administrator Ed Petrovitch.In the April 3 email, which The Free Lance–Star obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Taylor responded to a question from county finance staff about the local cost of 5% and 7% pay increases for school division staff.A 5% pay increase for public school employees is proposed in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget amendments for fiscal year 2024. Part of the cost of the raises would be funded by the state, and part by localities.Taylor said the local share of a 5% increase would be “approximately $6.84 million.”“But, respectfully, this $6.84 million cannot be considered alone because, if SCPS were given $6.84 million, we could not responsibly use it first for pay increases,” Taylor continued. People are also reading… Taylor told Petrovitch that money would first go to cover “inflation in operating costs,” which he said will cost $5 million — “$3.01 to keep the lights on and $2.0 for Health.”“The division can’t fund pay increases for staff that won’t have heat or lights in their buildings or fuel in the
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