GATE CITY – The Scott County School Board will hold a budget public hearing Tuesday, but hard numbers await both a governor’s signature on the state budget and certainty on the direction of recent federal budget actions.
Schools Superintendent John Ferguson said Thursday that the state budget bill passed Feb. 22 by the General Assembly does include $1,000 one-time bonused for full time public school employees. For the county school system, that means $1,000 for all full-time employees from teachers to support employees. It also means $500 bonuses to part-time contract employees, primarily bus drivers, he added.
The bonuses, however, depend on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s signature on the budget.
If the bill is signed, Ferguson added, the second year of teacher raises under the state’s 2024-26 biennium budget also would be funded.
With constantly changing federal budget cutting under the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency, Ferguson said uncertainty remains about a range of federal Title funding items . That makes Tuesday’s public hearing more of a discussion of the fiscal environment than a firm budget draft, he added.
The School Board budget public hearing is set for 6:15 p.m., March 5, at the Scott County Career and Technical Center, 387 Broadwater Ave., Gate City. The regular March board meeting follows at the same location at 6:30 p.m.
The board will discuss a calendar for the 2025-26 school year.