The head of Virginia Beach City Public Schools is defending the district after Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week seemingly implied that local school divisions have been slow to make good use of their federal relief money.
“It was portrayed as if we just have this money sitting here and we aren’t thinking about it,” Superintendent Aaron Spence said in a phone interview this week. “Anybody who was listening would have inferred that there was bad decision-making around those funds.”
Youngkin’s remarks about school districts’ spending habits came after newly released test scores showed a dramatic learning loss among students — in Virginia and nationwide.
During a news conference Monday, Youngkin faulted previous gubernatorial administrations for the test scores and called on local school divisions to “get moving,” seemingly questioning why schools had remaining federal money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
“Virginia Beach City Public Schools have $82 million left,” Youngkin said. “The money is in the bank. It should be spent on things that will get our kids back on track for success. That’s why the money was given to you.”
Spence said to start, the governor’s figures were off. Virginia Beach was given $82 million, but has $64 million left, according to the district.
Spence also said the funding — which was part of the American Rescue Plan — was never intended to be expended all at once. Schools have until the latter half of 2024 to use or encumber the funds.
“Obviously, in 2022, we would not have spent the entirety of that money because our assessment is that we are going to need to continue to provide support beyond this first year of coming out of the pandemic,” Spence said Thursday.
During the news conference, the governor rattled off several ways school divisions could be using the money to support students. Among his suggestions: investing in tutoring and offering teacher incentives.
“This is simple,” Youngkin said.
Spence said Virginia Beach already is using some of the funds for tutoring and teacher incentives. They’ve also spent to improve ventilation systems.
“The things that Gov. Youngkin mentioned as things that we should be spending the money on are, in fact, things that we are spending the money on,” he said.
He added the state is aware of how the district is spending the funds because it reviewed and approved the plan.
Spence pointed out that Virginia is struggling with a teacher shortage — and said Youngkin’s comments won’t help teachers and school systems already struggling with low morale.
“They are telling us they’re burnt out. It’s hard work and they are tired of the politics around public education,” he said.
The governor’s remarks this week also drew ire from the Virginia Education Association, the state’s largest union of teachers and school support professionals.
The VEA — which repeatedly called on Youngkin in recent months to stop politicizing education — issued a statement criticizing the governor for politicizing the “predictable declines” in math and reading scores amid the pandemic.
The organization urged the governor to instead respond in “a meaningful way” by investing in competitive pay, small class sizes, adequate support staff and modern school infrastructure.
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
