The Lowdown on Your School Dollars
FY 2012-2013
Updated 4/26/12

I began my journey with VBCPS in kindergarten! I graduated from VBCPS! I then moved on to be a substitute teacher in VBCPS for several years! Now I'm a first year teacher for VBCPS! All through college I said I would work for any school system because I really just wanted to be able to teach; however, I only applied to VBCPS because that was me, my history my roots! VBCPS is where my heart was and where I wanted to be (and it is now where I want to STAY)!!!! I had a wonderful schooling experience with VBCPS thanks to many wonderful teachers along the years and I wanted to make that same impact on students as my teachers did for me--I've now been given that opportunity and I LOVE my job! I wouldn't change it for the world! Yet here I am faced with not having a job next year!!!! It is extremely upsetting and very frustrating!!!!! Not only does it leave me unemployed, it leaves the students with increased class sizes which is a disadvantage to them!!! We need to think about our children and put them first!!!! Cutting teachers does NOT benefit the students of Virginia Beach City Public Schools!!! Put the students first and keep their teachers!!!! We care and we want what is best for them!!!!

It concerns me that all this is going up. Has anyone thought what is going to happen to the vb school employee that does not make enough money to go out of their paycheck. I THINK IT SHOULD DEPEND ON WHAT YOU MAKE. Especially health care FOR SINGLE SUBSCRIBERS

I have lived here since 1979. I watch the toll booth pulled at Rosemount Rd.,which I thought a mistake. It helped pay for the extras we needed in the beach and was not to pricey to deal with. The lottery was to help with the extras and the schools. If you had both maybe our cuts would be old news. The sports,fine arts and the teachers are always on the chopping block when there is a mistake in the gov't.

I think it is absolutely insane thinking to do any budget cuts on VBPS. The schools and employees have taken enough sacrifices. Take a look at city spending not schools. Look in the mirror. Look at 32nd street development and other wasted money that does not benefit the VB taxpayer.Take time to listen to your teachers ideas for once!The students are our future, not fancy hotels and water waste foot baths for tourists.(And how do locals benefit from this?)The idea that you would even think about cutting sports on any level is just WRONG!Look for cuts somewhere else!

The beach sure looked nice today with the tractors combing the sand! It made me cringe when I saw that on my morning jog on the boardwalk. How can the city be worried about parks and pretty things when the teachers are losing their jobs? It makes me wonder if these head honchos even have children of their own... The other day, my wife and I were on General Booth when we were delayed due to traffic caused by road work on a road that needs no work. They were filling in 'cracks'. The city is literally using millions of dollars as toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, and etc... What a waste.

If they cut jv and middle school sports than average to decent kids will not be able to get sports scholarships and some of those kids are from low income families which without the sports they probably could not go to college and have to have a low income job. I also think that cutting the academies is unreasonable because most families have 2 working parents who cannot take time off to take the kids to school. I AM VBCPS

If academy buses are cut many students will have to drop out of the academy at least until they are able to drive. Any student who has 2 parents who work full time and most likley cannot take them to or from school will become ineligable for any academy. It is unfair to prohibit a student from the oppertunity of an academy simply due to transportational needs.

I would like to know why Virginia Beach city employees all get their birthday off. PAID! How many millions of dollars has that consumed? And the city workers got a 2% raise and the school employees get nothing and then it's proposed we work 3 days for free. Maybe we should be looking at the City and not the Schools and examine what's going on at the City with their money...money the City receives from us, the residents of Virginia Beach who pay their taxes. James Spore, City Manager, gets a $12,000 car allowence a year. That could pay a teacher assistant salary for the year.

Now that the school board is sending an honest budget to the city, it is time to put pressure on the city to stop short changing our schools and fully fund them as they should have been doing all along!!!

Everything that "10 month Employee" said is true. Everyone is so concerned about transportation and the sports program. That's great and all, there is nothing wrong with that, HOWEVER, the so called "specialists" (a title that is not as glamorous as it is being portrayed) are going to suffer as well. A HUGE and very IMPORTANT part of our jobs takes place during the time that is up on the cutting board. We're the ones that make sure your child's schedule for the following year is ready (and reflective of your requests), we're the ones updating your information, taking new phone numbers/addresses/contacts, ensuring that all grades are completed in all databases (thus providing the necessary data that determines whether or not your child is even eligible to play sports), that credits are where they should be, that transcripts are accurate, SOL testing information is accounted for, processing Gifted and Academy applications, among many other "behind the scenes" functions. We matter too. All of us work as a team within our own school and support each other within the school system itself. We make sure information flows between each school in this district and the ones in others. In addition, we are all transitioning to a new grading system for next school year. We need that valuable training and preparation during the summer months. Losing the pay and losing the annual leave is detrimental enough. The even bigger problem lies in the fact that our work will totally STOP. That is what's going to have an impact and a trickle effect on everything else.