Reducing teacher vacancies - draft FY 26 budget
I have had many conversations with constituents about teacher vacancies and our reliance on substitutes. Many parents are concerned that the lack of a stable teacher is hurting the learning environment in their kids' classrooms. Below I’m summarizing what the proposed budget has to improve recruitment, retention, and reduce teacher vacancies.
Richmond Public Schools (RPS) defines “high vacancy” or “hard to staff” schools as those with 15% or greater teacher vacancy rate or those with at least 10 teacher vacancies. Using this definition, the current high vacancy/hard to staff schools are:
Pre-schools: Blackwell, Mary Scott
Elementary Schools: Amelia Street, Blackwell, Carver, McClenney, Miles Jones, and Woodville
Middle Schools: Henderson and River City
High Schools: Richmond High School for the Arts, Richmond Success Academy/Thrive/Aspire, Richmond Technical Center.
Four of these schools are in the third district: Mary Scott, McClenney, Henderson, and the Richmond Technical Center.
What is Richmond Public Schools doing to fill our vacancies? Below is a summary of key budget items in the proposed FY 26 budget to improve our recruitment, retention. and reducing our teacher vacancies.
$16,498,089 for increasing compensation. These are our collective bargaining commitments:
$8,641,500 for a 3% for Licensed Personnel (All staff on teacher pay schedule + instructional specialists)
$710,000 for a 9% increase for School‐Based Office Associates
$279,000 for a 1% increase for Facilities Personnel & Custodians
$331,369 for a 11% increase for Family Liaisons
$22,020 for a 2.5% increase for Care and Safety Supervisors and EMT Coordinators
$122,000 for a 2% increase for Care and Safety Associates
$1,179,000 for a 11% increase for Support Staff
$2,300,000 for a 1.17% Step Increase for All Personnel
3% for Principals, APs & Directors $2,013,300 (estimate)
6% for Transportation Personnel $899,900 (estimate)
$1.9 million for “High vacancy/Hard-to-staff” school bonuses:
$2500 retention bonus for all teachers who stay at the high vacancy/hard to staff pre schools.
$10,000 recruitment bonus for RPS teachers who transfer to the high vacancy/hard to staff elementary schools.
$5,000 retention bonus for teachers who stay at the high vacancy/hard to staff elementary schools.
$583,500 for secondary math and science bonuses to attract more teachers to these hard-to-staff areas
$2500 retention bonus for existing secondary math and science teachers
$250/month longevity bonus for secondary math and science teachers on top of the retention bonus
$3500 bonus for new middle school math and science teachers
$2500 bonus for new high school math and science teachers.
$225,000 for early commitment new hire bonuses to “lock in” hires earlier in the season
$7,500 for teachers targeted at our high vacancy/hard to staff schools
Employee must start on the first day of their school’s calendar
Requires a three-year commitment to RPS with clawback if commitment is not fulfilled.
Do these bonuses work?
Last year, we distributed bonuses to 344 new hires. As of January 31, 2025, we have retained 87.2% of those hires.
This year, we distributed bonuses to 164 new hires. As of January 31, 2025, we have retained 96.9% of those hires.
What could hurt retention?
There are roughly $7.9 million worth of cuts in the draft FY 26 budget. The largest single item among the cuts is a reduction of about $4 million only covering half the healthcare cost increase and passing along the other half of the health care cost increase to RPS staff with employee health plans. In previous years RPS has covered 100% of the health care cost increase. Sadly, the ever increasing cost of health care is an ugly reality in America. All employers struggle with this and Richmond Public Schools is not immune.
Depending on individual circumstances, this could be felt as a significant decrease in compensation by some staff and I have deep concerns that this would hurt our retention efforts. This document breaks down the cost increase felt by various RPS staff. Of course the highest increase will be felt by those RPS staff who have more people on their health plans, those with families. I am committed to finding a way to cover these costs and not pass the health care cost increase to our employees.
The School Board has a budget work session scheduled for Tuesday February 25th at 6:00 PM. 3rd District residents can email me at afaruk[at]rvaschools.net. Other city residents can contact their school board members here to give them feedback on the RPS budget.
The next public comment opportunity is at the Tuesday, March 4th, 6:00 PM School Board meeting. To speak during public comment, fill out the Request to Speak Public Information form and email it to speakers@rvaschools.net no later than 12:00 pm on the day of the meeting. Speakers who sign up will be given priority, and if time is left then people who did not sign up to speak will be invited to give public comment.