Charlottesville United for Public Education’s Statement on City Council Budget Vote to Support School Reconfiguration 

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, Charlottesville City Council approved the FY 2023 budget, including $68.8M to fund the renovation and reconfiguration of Buford Middle School.

A one cent increase in the real estate tax (from $.95 to $.96 per $100 of assessed value) will go to the capital improvement fund. An additional vote to increase the meals tax from 6% to 6.5% will happen at the April 18 Council meeting.

Statement of Charlottesville United for Public Education:

“A solid, functioning, and thriving community is one that invests in its children through the public school system. The decision to fund $68.8M of the Buford Middle School renovation and reconfiguration and fully fund City Schools’ FY23 operating budget is part of a renewed promise to give Charlottesville students a high-quality education in a 21st century learning environment. This is a pivotal moment, and we thank City Council for doing right by our students and our community.

We appreciate that, with many critically important priorities competing for funding and limited palatable options for raising new revenue, this budget process was extremely complicated and required a significant amount of time and creative thinking. Thank you to Charlottesville City Council, City Staff, the Charlottesville School Board and Superintendent and many others — including the countless community members who rallied in vocal support of public schools — who worked tirelessly to make this work. Together we have taken an important step to set up our students — and our community — for success.

Today we savor this important moment, but we also know it’s just a first step. The needs of Charlottesville City Schools and our students didn’t start with — and won’t end with — funding renovations for Buford.

Completing the original and strongly supported “reconfiguration” vision will require funding for the auditorium at Buford (“Building B”) and an early childhood education center at Walker Upper Elementary. Research shows that investing in public education starting in early childhood pays dividends for students, the economy, and community. While we thank City Council for making a strong commitment to our schools in their budget vote last night, we also call on them to continue to make investments in public education a top priority going forward.

There are 4,200+ students currently enrolled in CCS, nearly half (46%) of whom are economically disadvantaged. It’s our job to advocate for systemic changes that ensure public education is inclusive, equitable, and accessible. The trajectory of the educational journey for students in our community depends on how we invest in and show up for them. We showed up for them during these budget negotiations, and we’ll keep showing up for them.

When Charlottesville United for Public Education formed just three months ago, we tapped into a well of support and momentum around not just reconfiguration but public education in general. In a short time, hundreds of community members have joined our ranks, written to City Council, put up yard signs and said loud and clear that public education should be a top priority. This budget cycle had the added benefit of bringing together advocates for affordable housing and public education, uniting the community behind the notion that these two issues go hand-in-hand to help break the cycle of generational poverty in Charlottesville.

Charlottesville United for Public Education is a grassroots movement that aims to center the voices of those historically underserved, underrepresented, and under-resourced. We will continue to advocate not just for the fulfillment of promises related to the Buford renovation and an early childhood center at Walker, but also for ongoing, deep investment in student success from preschool to graduation through community engagement, family support, and civic participation.

We will continue to build this movement and welcome all parents, grandparents, caregivers and public school advocates to join us at charlottesvilleunited.org.”