The Southampton Spotlight

Dear Southampton County Public Schools Staff Members and Families:

Every year, the Southampton County Public School (SCPS) Division School Board Members, the Director of Finance, and I meet to determine the budget for the following fiscal year. During the meeting, we evaluate the needs of every department, school, and the Division. Once we assess what resources are required to provide a top-quality education and work environment, we appeal to the Board of Supervisors to approve our recommended budget.

On April 12, 2023, we presented our recommended 2023-2024 school year budget to The Board of Supervisors. The meeting can be viewed on the Southampton County website. Our recommended budget included a $3,171, 355 increase in local funds, which would provide our school community with substantial benefits and opportunities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Hiring more paraprofessionals and substitutes to support our schools

• Increasing the pay of bus drivers as well as the number of bus drivers on staff

• Increasing the pay of all SCPS Division staff members

• Recruiting teachers and school safety officers for our schools

• Hiring on-staff occupational and physical therapy specialists to reduce contractual costs and address the needs of special needs students

• Updating technological equipment and software in our schools

• Sustaining competitive classes and certification programs for students

• Addressing wage compression among all classified employees

The budget increase request would also benefit veteran employees by providing them with opportunities to receive substantial pay increases. The following classified employee groups would benefit from our wage compression salary adjustment requests:

• Bookkeepers

• Custodians

• Drivers

• Garage and Maintenance Staff

• Nurses

• Secretaries

• Security Officers

• Teacher Assistants

• Technology Support Staff

Ultimately, the Board of Supervisors settled on $12,604,194 in local funds, which is $110,116 less than the approved budget for 2022-2023 [$12,714,310]. As a result of the recommended reduction, the Director of Finance, the SCPS Board Members, and I had the heavy task of reducing vacant positions and cutting back on educational resources. The anticipated reductions are about $3.28 million in total. Fortunately, we can keep all our current staff members; however, as a Division, we must continue to stretch ourselves to provide our students with quality education. The Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing of their proposed 2023-2024 budget on May 15, 2023, at 6:00 pm. I encourage you to attend the public hearing or watch the live stream on the Southampton County website.

To the SCPS staff members, I am honored to have you on my team. I know many of you have made sacrifices for our students and colleagues. Many staff members have long commutes, work long hours, take on multiple roles, and even contribute their resources to our schools and classrooms. You are the reason why the Division is a home away from home. Thank you for putting our students first and being consistent, committed, and caring. I will continue to stand by you and advocate for you.

I am also grateful to our parents and guardians for their support. Over the past few years, parental involvement and communication with SCPS educators have increased significantly. We will continue to need you as we cultivate our leaders of tomorrow. Thank you for entrusting your children with us.

To our students, we are all here to lead and guide you. Your principals, teachers, and staff are committed to providing you with a high-quality education in a safe environment that will enable you to succeed in an ever-changing society. Please continue to take advantage of the resources, education, and opportunities at the Division while they are available. The seeds given here will enable you to sow and reap a harvest for yourselves, your families, and future generations.

In this newsletter, you will read an article that captures the opinions of our administrators, teachers, and essential staff members regarding the SCPS Board's recommended budget and the proposed reductions from the Board of Supervisors. Moreover, the newsletter highlights the SCPS Division's overview mission, vision, and achievements. We will keep you up-to-date on Division news through email, Remind, texts, or calls.

Thank you again for your support,

In good faith,

Gwendolyn Shannon, Ph.D.

Division Superintendent

[1] To watch the April 12, Budget workshop meeting, visit: http://southamptoncountyva.new.swagit.com/videos/223920

[2] To watch the May 15, Public hearing, visit: https://www.southamptoncounty.org/

Written By: Wilhelmine "Willow" Bellevue

On April 12, 2023, the Superintendent of Southampton County Public School Division (SCPS), Dr. Gwendolyn Page Shannon, stood in front of the Southampton County Board of Supervisors to advocate for an 8% increase in pay for staff members, monies to provide adequate resources to general education and special education students, and additional funds to make SCPS a more competitive district.

“We are asking for the funding in this budget to be able to increase the salaries of our employees, to include raising the beginning teacher salaries from $43,500 to $47,000, and the master’s degree supplement by $500 from $2,000 to $2,500,” said Dr. Shannon. “We want to address equity and salaries of all employees compared to surrounding areas by providing an 8% increase for our employees and a wage compression adjustment for all classified employees."

Dr. Shannon continued to address the district’s crucial needs. She said, “There is a need for elementary reading specialists in grades four and five. There is a need for bookkeepers…There is an increase in the number of special education students and their specialized needs. There are 347 students identified as students with special needs. There is an occupational and physical therapy position in the budget, and that is due to an increase in the occupational and physical therapy services that are required by our students.”

As Dr. Shannon spoke, the room was silent. The Board of Supervisors seemed shocked about the services SCPS provides, the Division’s expenses, and the $3.17 million increase in local funds requests. The meeting lasted a little over an hour, during which Dr. Shannon and Director of Finance Joy Carr were interrogated about the budget increase and compensation equity. The probing became so intense that Southampton County’s School Board Chairman, Dr. Deborah Goodwyn, rose out of her seat to defend Dr. Shannon and Carr.

Carr presented and explained in detail the need for an increase in funds for the 2023-2024 budget. She described how it would support staff, assist with recruitment efforts, and, most importantly, provide services to students, especially the district’s special needs population.

Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Alan W. Edwards, agreed that the SCPS teacher pay scale was low. However, he admitted to needing to fully comprehend how physical and occupational therapists are integrated into a learning plan.

Dr. Edwards said, “I don’t understand how physical therapists work into the school system anyway. The physical therapists need medical prescriptions in order to do the therapy which they are treating on. If you have a child that has a sports injury, his parents should be taking care of that through their insurance, not the school.”

In response, Carr attempted to explain how physical and occupational therapy is sometimes a requirement for their Individualized Education Plans (IEP). Despite Carr’s explanation, Dr. Edwards stated that the recommended budget was “superficially inflated” and unrealistic. Dr. Shannon and Carr remained composed as they were further questioned regarding the salary increases and additional budgetary needs.

Board of Supervisors member Carl J. Faison empathized with Dr. Shannon and Carr and shared that he understood the needs of the Division.

“I can understand you’re trying to upgrade the teacher salary, and I appreciate the work you’ve put into it,” said Faison.

The other board members did not express the same empathetic tone as Faison. According to the Board of Supervisors, approving the increase would require Southampton residents to pay more in real estate taxes or trash fees. The Board of Supervisors will convene to make a final decision on May 23.

Though the initial budget meeting ended inconclusively, many SCPS Division staff members watched the recording in the following days. Many staff members were proud they had a superintendent who would stand up for them and endure a hostile environment.

The full Budget Workshop can be viewed at https://southamptoncountyva.new.swagit.com/videos/223920.

Written By: Wilhelmine "Willow" Bellevue

Southampton County resident and Southampton High School Math Teacher, Paul Kea expressed concern about the Division not having adequate funds to hire more staff and increase pay.

“I love teaching at Southampton County Public School District. Southampton County has been my home. I grew up here; I live here. It’s home. I am not saying I’m going anywhere, but when you look at other pay scales and you look at ours, we are not enticing highly qualified candidates,” said Kea. “We [the district] are not being funded in how we need to bring in teachers. The less funding you have, the fewer teachers you have, which creates teacher burnout, affecting everybody.”

Kea hopes that more industries will come to the area to relieve the residents of taxes so that the Southampton County Board of Supervisors can provide the SCPS division with an increase in funds.

“If you get more business, you will get more tax money and you will be able to fund more things.

It’s not going to happen overnight [bringing industries in], but the only plea that I have is every cut from education hurts the kids,” Kea said.

Principal of Nottoway Elementary School, Susan Melbye, shared how the Division’s nurturing and family-oriented culture has enabled her and other administrators to retain staff.

“That sense of family is what drew me to this area. It is a family here; the parents and the staff get to know you. We are a close, tight-knit family, and everybody looks for the best for the kids. I have teachers who have left and who want to come back. I also have teachers who have left for financial reasons. We are experiencing massive inflation, and people need to be sustained,” said Melbye.

According to Melbye, the budget increase is necessary to attract and retain staff and provide opportunities for all students, from younger students to graduating seniors.

“Dr. Shannon has brought several different programs to Southampton, to a small rural farming community. Several years ago, pre-Covid, Dr. Shannon implemented coding in our schools, and this was her forward thinking. There are millions of coding jobs now, and we are introducing the first steps to coding in kindergarten!” Melbye said enthusiastically.

Written By: Wilhelmine "Willow" Bellevue

Though the SCPS Division provides excellent learning opportunities for students, educators, and staff, increasing pay for all current and incoming staff will enable the Division to further provide a dynamic learning environment. According to an article by McKinsey & Company, schools have been dealing with higher attrition levels since 2019. The article reports how there has been a decline in student-teachers completing their education and teacher preparation programs, narrowing the candidate pool for school administrators.

Additionally, a survey McKinsey & Company conducted found that 69% of educators don’t feel like they are receiving sufficient compensation, and about 35% of teachers ages 25-34 plan on leaving their schools. On the contrary, 85% of teachers who stay at their schools remain due to their work culture. These findings align with what Dr. Shannon echoed during the April 12 Budget Workshop meeting.

“Increasing the teacher pay can increase the teacher pipeline and strengthen the quality of the future workforce. An increase in teacher pay will decrease teacher turnover…Research shows that a 10% increase in the teacher salary would garner a 5 to 10% improvement in student performance,” Dr. Shannon said.

To Kea’s point, reductions only hurt the kids; however, there is still a core group of administrators and teachers who love SCPS’s culture. This core group of people may be considered a part of the 85% of educators who stay at their job because they love their work environment, as indicated by McKinsey & Company.

Written By: Wilhelmine "Willow" Bellevue

The Southampton County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on May 15 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting can be viewed on livestream or at southamptoncounty.org.

If the $3.17 million increase in the proposed budget is approved, the Division will be able to provide staff with an 8% salary increase, add additional resources to schools, and recruit paraprofessionals and teachers at a higher rate. However, Dr. Shannon, the SCPS School Board, and the Director of Finance have the plan to cut resources and current vacancies if they need additional funding.

As shown by the comments and interviews in the above sections, many staff members strongly agree with Dr. Shannon’s budget proposal. The SCPS staff are praying and hoping Dr. Shannon’s proposed budget increase of $3.17 million will be approved. In the meantime, they are committed to continuing to work hard to provide students with exceptional education.

The mission of the Southampton County Public Schools is through the combined efforts of staff, students, families, and the community we will ensure a quality education in a safe environment that will prepare students to be successful learners and productive citizens

in an ever-changing society.

The vision of Southampton County Public Schools is that all students will be successful, productive, lifelong learners in an ever-changing world.