After a month of contention, Henrico School Board passes budget with little fanfare
Henrico School Board members April 16 unanimously approved the county’s $971-million school system budget, which had been adopted by the Henrico Board of Supervisors two days earlier.
The county’s proposed 2026-2027 budget allocates $4.2 million less to Henrico Schools than the school board’s initial proposal (endorsed by the school board in February) would have. The county’s budget also provides immediate funding for 91 new staff positions, rather than the 153 new positions initially proposed by HCPS leaders, which prompted outcry during this past month from some school board members and HCPS staff.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the board of supervisors stressed that HCPS would receive all necessary funding this year and even criticized school board members for espousing the “false narrative” that schools were not fully funded. The budget that the board of supervisors adopted was the final version that the school board presented it, after County Manager John Vithoulkas asked each county agency to reduce its proposed spending slightly.
With clear frustration, supervisors commented on the “immaturity” and “political gamesmanship” of some school board members.
But just two days later on Thursday, following a month of contentious back-and-forth between both boards, the school board quickly passed the county’s budget with few comments.
Speaking “on behalf of the school board,” board chair Madison Irving (Three Chopt District) expressed appreciation for the board of supervisors’ funding and said the school board was “happy” to unanimously approve the budget.
Despite the 3% reduction HCPS had to implement to the proposed budget, Irving said he was confident that if any more money became available from the state government, the board of supervisors would allocate those funds towards the 62 new school positions currently on hold.
“While [the county’s approved budget] is a reduction from the plan we approved in February, it addresses many of our critical needs,” he said. “We appreciate the funding from the board of supervisors and their indication that if any additional state funds become available, we will be able to move forward in filling additional instructional positions from the original budget proposal.”
The adopted budget includes “nearly all of the initiatives” that were proposed in HCPS’ initial budget, said HCPS Chief Financial Officer John Wack, but does implement a $23-million reduction to the schools’ general fund budget to support a 3% across-the-board raise for all school and county staff.
Overall, HCPS’ budget will increase by about $27 million compared to last year using mostly local funds. Wack also said the school system is hopeful that “most if not all” of the 62 positions on hold can be restored this year due to additional state aid.
School board also approves special education funding, new sick leave policies
The school board also unanimously approved $11.8 million in federal Title VI-B funding for the division’s special education programs. The majority of funding would go toward personnel, including 89 special ed teachers, 47 instructional assistants, two speech language pathologists, three special ed specialists, four early childhood special ed teachers, and six coordinators.
HCPS saw a slight decrease of $8,800 in Title VI-B funding compared to last year. However, the division only receives about 17% of special education funding from federal sources, with more than 50% coming from local sources.
The board also approved revisions to flexible sick leave and bereavement leave policies that would allow staff to take more days off in the case of emergencies.
School employees would now be able to take five days off for bereavement (death and grief-related) leave, three days off for flexible sick leave, four weeks of paid leave to care for an ill parent, and eight hours of leave for the death of a non-immediate family member. Employees would also receive additional personal leave for every five years they continue to work for HCPS.
A new policy would allow employees to take 60 days of unpaid leave for an organ donation and 30 days of unpaid leave for a bone marrow donation.
Several leave policies – including paid parental leave and organ/bone marrow donation leave – would require staff to take off time continuously rather than allow for intermittent use. Despite some discussion between the board, those leave policies were kept as continuous.
Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.
