Henrico Schools’ $976-million proposed budget is a ‘commitment to stability,’ school board members say
Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell recommended a $976-million budget for the 2026-2027 school year – an increase of about $32 million from the current fiscal year budget.
The proposed budget, which HCPS officials presented to the Henrico School Board on Jan. 22, would add a number of additional staff positions, including more English Learner teachers, exceptional education teachers and instructional assistants, and building maintenance workers. The $32-million boost also would allow HCPS to cover increased employee healthcare costs and growing electricity and utilities costs for school buildings.
“In Henrico schools, doing more with less is not an option,” Brookland District representative Kristi Kinsella said.
Proposed budget increases would tackle issues that compounded during the COVID pandemic but have continued to impact the division, said Varina District representative Alicia Atkins, such as teacher and staff vacancies and increased strain on HVAC systems from bringing students back into buildings.
“This budget proposal, it really represents a commitment to stability,” she said. “COVID really did happen, our county really was in crisis, and there are pieces that we are still recovering from.”
School board members receive emails nearly every week about HVAC issues at school buildings, said vice-chair Ryan Young (Fairfield District). But HCPS has still not fully staffed all of the current HVAC positions, which prompts some concerns when adding even more HVAC jobs, said Tuckahoe District representative Marcie Shea.
“I just want to make sure we can fill those new positions and our current positions,” she said. “Because otherwise it doesn’t matter how many positions we add, if we can’t fill them.”
HCPS would be looking for a $28-million increase from the state and Henrico County for the schools’ general fund, said HCPS Chief Financial Officer John Wack. After the school board votes on the budget proposal Feb. 26, the Henrico Board of Supervisors will consider it in March and adopt a plan as part of its overall county budget in April.
Staff salaries and pay raises will not be considered until later this spring.
What the proposed budget includes:
• More English Learner teachers;
• eight more exceptional education teachers and 47 more exceptional education instructional assistants (IAs);
• new positions for Henrico High’s Cybersecurity Specialty Center;
• new positions for the HCPS Living Building at Wilton Farm;
• new positions for renovated/rebuilt schools that have additional capacity;
• five more school counselors for the Henrico CARES program;
• five more skilled trade positions to address HVAC and maintenance issues;
• 150 more seats in the Career Ladder program;
• funding to extend the Opportunity School initiative for a fourth year;
• more funding to address cost increases in electricity and other utilities;
• more funding to shield employees from rising health benefits costs
What board members are pushing to include:
• Adding solar panels to certain school buildings;
• more custodial workers at renovated/rebuilt schools;
• more staff to accommodate students redistricted to Henrico and Hermitage high schools;
• funding to remove 504 plan case management from school counselors’ responsibilities;
• more elementary school math and science coaches;
• more funding to provide healthier school meals with more fresh foods;
• higher pay for family advocates.
As electricity costs increase, HCPS should consider long-term cost-saving measures such as adding solar panels to school buildings, said board chair Madison Irving (Three Chopt District).
“Everything is becoming more expensive, electricity especially,” he said. “When we open up our buildings on weekends, that’s electricity that we’re spending on that we would not factor in otherwise.”
Board members also pushed to increase salaries for HCPS’ family advocates, who work with at-risk students and families to better connect them with school resources. Young said he was “shocked” when he saw the starting salary for family advocates, which is currently about $34,700 for 10 months, or $19.74 per hour.
“Our family advocates are doing some of the most critical work in our system, supporting families in crisis,” Young said. “That level of responsibility deserves compensation that reflects the impact of their work. Every single school in my district has a family advocate, and I know the work that they do.”
The proposed budget acknowledges HCPS’ need for more staff, said Irving, but that also means a need for higher staff compensation if HCPS wants to efficiently fill new positions and current vacancies.
“We need more people, plain and simple,” he said. “When we’re going into these conversations about, ‘how do we fill these roles?’ Well, it’s probably because we’re actually not paying people enough for the amount that they could earn in the private sector.”
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.
