Despite pressure from City Hall and the community, as well as division among members, the Richmond School Board is moving ahead with plans to control development and construction of a replacement for the decaying, 60-year-old George Wythe High School in South Side.

The board made that plain Monday in unanimously approving a record general fund budget for 2021-22 of $347.5 million — the equivalent of $14,479 for each of the 24,000 students, or about $700 more per student than the current $331.16 million budget provides.

The total $16 million in new funds includes an unexpected $5 million increase in state funds, but apparently does not include any of the potential $122 million RPS is projected to receive this year from the federal American Rescue Plan.

It provides a 3 percent pay increase for teachers and staff, authorizes the hiring of 18 teachers to beef up remedial services in math and reading and expands the corps of teachers serving Spanish-speaking students.

The approved budget plan also gives the green light to restarting the school system’s construction division, with $500,000 to hire three new staff to take on school building, including a new 2,000-seat George Wythe.

The plan rebuffs pleas from the mayor and City Council members to leave construction up to City Hall.

The budget vote came during a meeting that went six hours and included a 5-4 vote to authorize Superintendent Jason Kamras’ controversial plan to essentially flip the start times of preschool and elementary schools and high schools. Classes for preschool and elementary students will start at 7:45 a.m. in the fall, with high schools to start at 8:45 a.m. Most middle schools would start at 8:15 a.m.

Mr. Kamras and RPS’ Chief Academic Officer Tracy Epp promised the board there would be robust after-school offerings for elementary children who will be out of school at 2:45 p.m. That time is at least an hour earlier than previously, creating potential problems for working parents and for older siblings who often look after younger siblings but with the change will still be in class.

School Board member Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, urged her colleagues to put off the bell change for another year to give families time to adjust. But the majority backed Mr. Kamras, who said the changes align with guidance from the American Pediatric Association to allow high school students to sleep longer and matches changes already made by other nearby school districts.

Separately, the board was told that 85 percent of seniors are expected to graduate — a 14-point jump from last year’s 71 percent, which was the worst in the state. The hike in graduation rate appears to be due to a pandemic year in which the state generally waived requirements that students pass a certain number of state Standards of Learning tests to receive a diploma.

Ms. Epp noted that the biggest increases in graduation will be among Latino students, whose graduation rate last year was just 33 percent, but will jump dramatically.

For the board, though, the meatiest issue continued to be the development of a new George Wythe High School. The issue has dominated education conversation in the city since April 12, when a majority of the School Board voted for the board to take control of building any new schools rather than leaving it to the city.

Last week, Mayor Levar M. Stoney and members of City Council urged the School Board to reconsider its vote to resume construction control and offered new proposals. Those proposals, according to the city letter, would ensure that the School Board would be a full partner, rather than a tag-along in building a replacement high school next to the George Wythe building on Crutchfield Street. The offer included a promise to add a consultant to ensure the School Board is fully briefed and to set up three additional joint construction teams.

According to the letter, development of a new high school that could be built and ready for use in September 2024 would be set back unless the city’s request for bids from architectural firms is issued by June 1. The city has estimated the new school could cost at least $140 million and possibly more.

By a 5-4 vote, the board declined to amend Monday’s agenda and allow a discussion of the letter, despite claims from the city and assertions from Mr. Kamras that School Board control of construction could delay completion of a new George Wythe until 2027.

However, board members Liz Doerr, 1st District, and Nicole Jones, 9th District, could only muster the votes of Chairwoman Cheryl Burke, 7th District, and Dawn Page, 8th District.

The same five members who support RPS building schools declined to spend the time discussing the letter. The five are Vice Chair Jonathan Young, 4th District; Mariah White, 2nd District; Kenya Gibson, 3rd District; Stephanie Rizzi, 5th District; and Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District.

Both Ms. Page and Ms. Doerr sharply criticized their colleagues for not discussing the mayor’s proposal.

“I want the public to be aware,” Ms. Doerr said, “this means we are transparently not discussing George Wythe and a major decision that needs to be made by June 1st.”

Ms. Gibson rejected the criticism. In her view, the mayor and his team overspent to build two new elementary schools and a new middle school, leaving other projects unfunded. She said the School Board can do better in ensuring George Wythe gets done by the fall of 2024 without inflating the cost.

Before the vote, city residents weighed in, offering mixed views, with some urging the board to return construction control to the city and others backing School Board control.

On Wednesday, Mayor Stoney issued a joint statement of criticism of the School Board majority. He was joined in the statement by City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille, 7th District, council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District, and Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, whose 5th District includes George Wythe.

The statement called out the five School Board members for declining “to consider or even discuss the city’s proposal to collaborate on school construction.” Their statement warned that “this refusal jeopardizes our collective ability to open (the new high school) in August 2024. Our children and families deserve better.”

The statement praised the four School Board members who wanted “to discuss compromise and consider the city’s proposal” and concluded with a promise that “as elected leaders, we will continue to stay focused on our children and consider all options that get them into the facilities they deserve, as soon as possible.”