Hundreds of parents and teachers packed the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday night ahead of a public hearing on the $700 million proposed budget scheduled for next month.
Classroom size is one concern for parent Joe Elias. He’s president of the PTA for Winterpock Elementary and says his second grader shares a class with 28 kids.
“They don’t have desks. They sit on little bar stools because that’s all that fits in the room," said Elias.
Elias says he has almost 2000 names on a petition asking the board to fully fund schools. Providence Middle School teacher Stephanie Rowan says the district also needs to hire more staff to support English Language Learners.
“We have over 100 kids in our caseload and they’re only three ESL teachers, so we’re spread really thin," Rowan said.
According to Superintendent Merv Daugherty, the budget will address both of these needs.
The school board is set to vote on the budget on February 25. It then heads to the board of supervisors.
