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Waynesboro School Board begins 2026 budget talks: Priorities include teacher pay

Rebecca Barnabi
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The Waynesboro School Board will begin the process of discussing budget priorities for the 2025-2026 school year.

At its regular meeting Tuesday night, Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cassell said that priorities will include, as they have in recent years, improving employee compensation and support for recruitment.

“As you know, we’ve made considerable gains in that area over the last few years and are much more competitive than we were a decade ago with surrounding school divisions,” Cassell said to the school board Tuesday night.

The school system will also focus on using state funding from ALL in Virginia to increase student academic performance, implement the Virginia Literacy Act and continue to improve student attendance at Waynesboro Schools.

The school system will officially adopt budget priorities in November and approve a calendar for the budget season.

Cassell also announced that Waynesboro School Board members Erika Smith and Diana Williams received Virginia School Boards Association Awards of Distinction, the highest possible recognition from the VSBA. The awards and pins recognize their participation in the VSBA Academy on Government and Service from the 2022-2024 school years.

School Board Chair Debra Freeman said that Cassell was also a recipient.

School Board members Rick Wheeler, Amber Lipscomb and Freeman all received VSBA Certificates of Recognition.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.