We keep hearing that we are a very wealthy county, yet we are having to cut our school budget by reducing teachers and programs. City schools are growing, adding more math and reading specialists so they have one per grade, plus giving their staff a 5.5% pay increase. Fluvanna and Louisa are giving similar or higher salary increases and not cutting positions. Teachers should not be the victims of the slashing and continue to be piled on to do more with less.
Why didn’t ACPS present a budget that would maintain staffing, reduce class sizes, and increase resources in our schools to support the focused groups, instead of the opposite?
In February, ACPS presented a budget request of $7.8 million above projected revenues to maintain staffing and increase resources as much as possible. However, by May, we must adopt a final budget in which expenses equal revenues. The ACPS School Board does not have the authority to levy taxes to increase revenues, so expenses must be adjusted to the level of revenues provided by the County and Commonwealth.
Our primary influence in developing the ACPS budget is always what is best for children. Given our financial constraints, every decision we make is guided by how to sustain opportunities for students and preserve the classroom experience. This year’s process was especially challenging due to two major pressures—both outside our control—that significantly impacted available funding.
For a refresher, here is a link to the video of our draft funding request to the School Board in February: Draft Funding Request Presentation for FY26.
First, our state funding was significantly reduced due to a change in Albemarle’s Local Composite Index (LCI). The LCI determines how much a locality is expected to contribute to K-12 education based on local wealth indicators, such as real estate values and household income. For 2024–26, Albemarle’s LCI increased significantly and now ranks 14th out of 133 school divisions in Virginia, meaning the state expects our local taxpayers to fund a much larger share of public education. This change has resulted in an annual loss of approximately $10 million in state revenue for ACPS since FY25.
Second, while we did receive new funding from the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, a large portion was designated to restore the County-managed health care reserve fund, which is experiencing a significant shortfall. Health care expenses have increased by over 50% in the last two years. This investment is necessary to protect employee benefits in the long term, but it means that less new funding is available to support classroom staffing and programs.
Despite these challenges, the School Board approved a budget that prioritized what is best for children, and we made several key investments, including the following:
- A 3% pay increase for all employees, bringing the cumulative salary increase to approximately 33% over the past six years
- Additional targeted raises for Special Education and Transportation Assistants to improve recruitment and retention
- New staffing for the Intensive Support Center to improve services for our Special Education students currently attending Ivy Creek School, and expand access to more students
- Significant investments in school-based operational and athletics budgets, and instructional materials to catch up after years of constrained growth and cost inflation
- New positions to support English Learners and students with disabilities
- Average class sizes remain below pre-pandemic levels and are projected to stay that way into 2025–26
It’s also important to clarify that the number of teachers affected by reductions in force (RIFs) this spring is dramatically lower than in past years, and most are due to enrollment shifts among individual schools—not funding cuts. As schools continue to post and fill open positions, many of those teachers are being recalled through our standard process.
We recognize that comparing funding decisions across school divisions can be misleading. Local tax bases, healthcare obligations, staffing models, and enrollment trends all differ. If you’d like to see more substantial investment in ACPS, we encourage you to advocate directly to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, who determine our local funding.
For broader changes to state funding formulas like the LCI, we encourage outreach to our General Assembly representatives:
- Senator Creigh Deeds (District 11): district11@senate.virginia.gov
- Delegate Katrina Callsen (District 54): DelKCallsen@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Amy Laufer (District 55): DelALaufer@house.virginia.gov
If you’d like to be involved earlier in the FY27 budget process, please contact me at mhaas@k12albemarle.org. Your insights are always welcome.
If cuts have to be made, why are rank-and-file staff members who are in the trenches not asked what we would prefer to have cut, or even asked for suggestions of ways the county could save money?
That’s an important question, and one we take seriously. Every school and department has staff representation on the Employee Budget Advisory each year. These representatives participate in reviewing budget options, weighing priorities, and offering ideas for reducing costs. In fact, several of the reductions approved this year came directly from those discussions.
We agree that frontline educators and staff bring valuable perspectives to budget planning, and we want to encourage that engagement. If you’re interested in contributing to the process next year, please speak with your principal or supervisor about representing your school or department—or contact me directly at mhaas@k12albemarle.org. We welcome and need your voice at the table.