Henrico School Board to hold public hearing Feb. 12 about proposed $976-million budget
On Thursday at 5 p.m., members of the public can give input directly to the Henrico School Board on the proposed budget for the 2026-2027 school year.
The $976-million recommended budget would add more than 100 new staff positions, including 50 more English Learner teachers, 27 more exceptional education teachers and instructional assistants, and additional building maintenance workers. The proposal would add around $32 million more in funding to Henrico Schools than last year’s adopted budget.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the budget proposal at its Feb. 26 meeting, but will not consider staff pay raises until later this spring.
At Thursday’s 3:30 p.m. work session, the board will also receive an update from HCPS staff on the Next Education Workforce Initiative, an alternative teaching program adopted by certain HCPS schools.
Elementary schools that use the Next Education initiative divert from the traditional elementary education model, which typically has one homeroom teacher teaching all core subjects to one class of students. Instead, Next Education allows teachers to work using a team-based model, with students rotating to different teachers for their core subjects.
HCPS aims to expand the initiative to additional elementary and high schools over the next few years. Next Education currently works with 143 different schools across the country.
Members of the public will also have the opportunity to submit written comments to the school board’s online public forum.
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.
