(WSLS 10) - Education in Virginia is changing. School districts are doing more with less money, fewer teachers and higher poverty levels in schools.
Since the beginning of the recession in 2008, the state has reduced funding for public education by about $1 billion, according to the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report.
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Some say the state is setting districts up to fail.
"If you're going to continue to raise expectations and reduce the support and the funding to meet the existing expectations I would agree that that is an unfair expectation," said Alan Seibert, Salem City Schools Superintendent.
Budget cuts mean program cuts
More than half of school districts report they have reduced co-curricular programs. Nearly a quarter of school districts have been forced to close schools for financial reasons.
Books rolled back and forth between classrooms. Aging classrooms inside buildings nearly a century old. In Buena Vista thousands of dollars of equipment used for teaching students about heating, ventilation, and air conditioning sitting unused for years.
"It's pretty much pushed to the back of the classroom so we could use it for a science lab right now but we're hoping one day to get it out. And just start using it again. It's just a shame because the community actually put money into this as well. It's over $200,000 of equipment," said Anna Graham, Parry McCluer High School Principal and Division Director of Instruction.
School budget cuts are limiting students. More than half of Virginia school districts report they have reduced programs like fine arts, foreign language, physical education and career technical education (CTE). Programs Parry McCluer High School sophomore Jarred Mason was looking forward to.
"Around here the only jobs due to some of the plants closing is Modine and Munters and they both deal with air-conditioning and heating. Out of high school there's not really a lot of kids who get into college around here or big colleges so a lot of us will just go straight into one of those plants after we graduate and that's what I was planning to do," said Mason.
"Really it's just hurting our students. They need the extra programs. We can't just have the English, math, social studies. We need our CTE courses so kids have career options and can start in high school having those opportunities placed in front of them," said Graham.
Students feel the cuts first-hand
One hundred miles away, Henry County schools are struggling to do more with less too.
"It is frustrating. You want to make sure that you are providing opportunities for students, exposure to real world and relevant experiences. That can't be heartbreaking sometimes you have to make a tough decision on where you will spend your funds," said Sandy Strayer , Henry County Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. "Those are questions that we get a lot. Why can we not do these things anymore?"
Plans were drawn up a decade ago for a new Collinsville Elementary School. Henry County schools are finally breaking ground next month.
More than 99-percent of Virginia students are in school divisions that decreased spending per student over the last five years according to the JLARC report.
- Roanoke City and Roanoke County about 11-percent
- Buena Vista more than 14-percent
- Henry County more than 15-percent.
- Campbell, Montgomery and Pittsylvania counties all with about 15 percent cuts
"With the state giving us less money we have to look to the locality to help us. They have been very good to us the past couple of years and I hope they can continue to do that but we really need to go back towards what our 2008-2009 funding was," said Dr. John Keeler, Superintendent Buena Vista City Public Schools who says they cut $1.1 million.
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Increasing class size does not mean more teachers
When they moved eighth graders into the high school recently the school grew by 100 students, but only two teachers came with them increasing class sizes.
"Most of the teachers are teaching overload so it's hard on them to learn a new program and to give the kids the services they need when they're just exhausted basically," said Graham who says students will suffer in the long run.
More than 10,000 positions have been eliminated across Virginia with over half of those being teaching positions.
"It's the people that are going to help the kids so the more staff people that you have that are actually working, small groups or one-on-one with the students, that makes the biggest difference especially to a child who can't read, who gets to high school and is still struggling," said Graham.
While next year's budget discussions have just started educators are making a plea.
"We're changing instruction. We want to make it more rigorous and more relevant so therefore we need the money and the funds to do that," said Strayer .
"This is our future and we can't mess with that," said Dr. Keeler.
Governor Terry McAulife said recently he wants to increase K-12 spending. His budget is expected out next month.