School Board OKs amended operating budget, digital mapping grant, stipend for CNAs

Warren County School Board members (left to right) Andrea Lo, Kristen Pence, and Ralph Rinaldi met to conduct business on Wednesday.

The Warren County School Board, on Wednesday, September 7, approved several action items, including the amended the fiscal year 2023 operating budget totaling almost $69.9 million for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS), a digital mapping grant for all schools, and some extra cash for instructional assistants who hold active certified nursing assistant (CNAs) credentials.
School Board Chair Kristen Pence, Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi, and board member Andrea Lo were present. School Board members Antoinette Funk and Melanie Salins were absent.

Board approval of the amended FY 2023 WCPS operating budget is based on the $5,714,541 additional appropriation from the Warren County Board of Supervisors (BOS). WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger told board members that that the BOS now will be requested to allocate the appropriation to the following categories: Instruction ($53,218,702); Administration, Attendance, and Health ($3,124,965); Pupil Transportation ($3,388,545); Operations and Maintenance ($7,178,511); Debt Service ($658,247); and Technology ($2,323,973).

Originally, an initial FY 2023 Operating Fund budget of $64,178,402 was approved by the Warren County BOS at its June 28 meeting, while the additional $5,714,541 appropriation was approved by the BOS at its August 16 meeting.

The roughly $5.7 million amount was appropriated to the Instruction category with a request that the County be advised the amounts that need to be transferred to other categories to allow for the restoration of several initiatives totaling $5,714,541. These initiatives include full funding of the 5 percent salary increase for WCPS staff; a $1,000 bonus for staff in December; funding for all extra-curricular events and athletics; to restore three furlough days; and to fill all existing teacher vacancies in the school division, said Ballenger.

The School Board also voted 3-0 to authorize the superintendent to request that the supervisors appropriate $409,913 of the FY 2021 surplus to the WCPS Transportation Fund, which is held by the County; $1,000,000 to the School Capital Improvement Fund that is held by WCPS; and that the remaining $267,200 be retained by Warren County as previously agreed.

During their June 7 meeting, the supervisors approved the FY 2020-2021 audit, which included the total FY 2020-2021 school operating surplus of $1,677,113. Ballenger explained that the $267,200 previously had been committed by the School Board to be retained by the County from the FY 2021 surplus.

“This is the amount of funding provided by the Board of Supervisors in the fiscal year 2021 budget for instructional assistant and nurse raises,” he said. “Because of budget uncertainties due to the pandemic, the raises were withheld, and bonuses were given to employees instead.”

The superintendent and School Board previously agreed to not request this amount in their surplus request since it was not spent for its intended purpose.

In other action, the School Board also passed an item presented by WCPS Maintenance Director Greg Livesay (above) to award an approximately $38,000 contract through a state contract to ThunderCat Technology, which will create digital maps of all Warren County Public Schools.

In April, Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin announced the availability $6.5 million through the State Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to assist public schools in developing digital floor plans. In conjunction with the announcement, Youngkin signed House Bill 741, which requires local school boards to create detailed and accurate floor plans for each of their public-school buildings, Livesay said.

The Digital Mapping Programs for VA K-12 schools will fund up to $3,500 per school to create a common operation picture through digital maps for school administrators and first responders to use during emergencies. The digital maps also will be available on first responders’ cell phones, laptops, and other devices, he explained.

WCPS applied for and received the state grant funds totaling $38,500 last month and coordinated with DCJS’s preferred vendors — Critical Response Group and ThunderCat Technology — to create the digital floor plans. Livesay said that ThunderCat Technology is one of the previously completed and approved DCJS vendors.

“These are very useful maps,” Livesay said. “They come in use not only for emergencies, but for community use events, door numbering, and those types of things. So, it’s a very worthwhile effort.”
CNA stipend

The School Board also approved a $5,000 stipend for identified WCPS instructional assistants who have an active CNA certification. Currently, there are three of these positions in the school division, according to WCPS Special Services Director Michael Hirsch.

There will be no local cost because the stipend will be reimbursed by the state through both Medicaid billing and the Students with Intensive Support Needs Application (SISNA), Hirsch said.
WCPS instructional assistants who hold active CNA certifications will serve WCPS students who require all-day support in the areas of toilet etiquette, specialized feeding, stretching, and exercise, among others, said Hirsch.

Another item presented by Hirsch also received School Board approval.

Specifically, the board approved a new instructional assistant position that will be added to the Skyline High School Pathways and Connections classroom. The superintendent is also authorized to request the additional appropriation of $149,133 from the BOS.

Of that total amount, Hirsch said that roughly $33,133 will fund the Pathways and Connections position. The remaining Special Education 611 flow-through resources will be divided with approximately $75,000 applied to contracted services and about $41,000 covering instructional supplies, he said.

The board’s action agenda also included approvals for the new 2022-2023 Gifted Advisory Committee and a one-year employee benefits broker services agreement between WCPS and McGriff Insurance Services totaling $42,000.

Click here to watch the School Board’s meeting in its entirety.