Manassas City Council votes for 3% schools budget increase

MANASSAS — The city council and school board have reached a temporary funding agreement for the fiscal year of 2020 that includes a 3 percent increase to Manassas City Public Schools.

The budget was decided at an annual city council retreat.

“Three percent may not seem like much, but it is 50 percent more than the increase expected for all of our other government functions,” wrote City Councilman Wolfe in a Facebook post. “The three percent also represents a 14 percent increase in the rate of growth from this year.”’

It was not a unanimous agreement.

The vote was reportedly 4-2, with Ken Elston, Michelle Davis-Younger, and Pamela Sebesky in support with Wolfe. Ian Lovejoy and Theresa Coates-Ellis voted against.

“School board members asked for more money and city council had to weigh school funding with all the other city services and debt services that the city has to provide,” William Patrick Pate, city manager, told Potomac Local.  “They voted to direct me to put a 3 percent increase into the city budget for the local school system, for just the year 2020.”

For the last three years, the budget agreement was a 2.625% increase for 2016 through 2019. But school board members have been asking for more funds, citing a host of issues that need immediate financial addressing, such as teacher salaries, after-school activities, and the ever-growing number of trailer classrooms.

And then there is the need for a new Jennie Dean school, which will cost an estimated $30 million.

“While it is not everything that some of my schools’ friends have asked for, this vote reflects the absolute priority that the council places on Manassas having high-quality public education,” Wolfe wrote, adding that the increased funding could help with maintaining competitive teacher salaries and programs.

Another budget proposal that was brought forward in December included an increased school operating budget of 2.625% as well as an additional .5% specifically dedicated to building the new Jennie Dean school, bringing the total to an increase of 3.1% over the next three years. However, it was rejected.

“You could argue that [this budget] is less” than the one proposed in December, Pate said. However, this agreement “doesn’t stipulate how much money has to be set aside for the new Dean building.” That potentially gives the school board more room to maneuver financially.

This budget’s one-year expiration date means that a 2021 budget will need to be decided as well. Pate surmised that officials would look at that in fall 2019 to reach an agreement.