Suffolk Public Schools teachers would get a $3,000 increase next school year under the budget unveiled at Thursday night’s School Board meeting.

Support staff, both full-time and part-time, would also receive increases to their salary under the proposed budget. Full-time support staff would receive a 2-percent cost of living adjustment, and part-time staff would receive a 1-percent adjustment.

Altogether, the raises would cost about $4.7 million. A 2-percent raise, totaling $4,000, is proposed for Superintendent Dr. Deran Whitney.

The $168 million budget proposal would require nearly $7 million in additional funding, of which $4 million is requested from the city. The increase would also help with the costs to open and maintain two new schools, Florence Bowser Elementary and Col. Fred Cherry Middle.

Adding the new schools increases the cost to the budget by $2.2 million due to utilities and additional staff necessary, Finance Director Wendy Forsman said in Thursday’s meeting.

The entire proposed budget is an increase of 4.34 percent from the previous year.

“Our children are our future, and we should provide the means for our future,” said Sidney Neighbours, eighth-grade teacher at John Yeates Middle School and president of the Education Association of Suffolk. “You should thank us by compensating us well. We deserve a substantial raise, and I was pleased when I saw the presentation.”