Nelson County School Board Update -- April 2025

NELSON COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET SUMMARY

as of April 10, 2025

  Nelson County School administrative staff have been discussing and updating the FY 2026 budget with the School Board since February 20, 2025. This first budget discussion had a robust budget presentation from Superintendent Amanda Hester that focused on the division’s strategic and budget goals that “empower students through excellence in education.” The total budget was $33,817,244 requiring a little over $2 million more from the County than in the previous year. It also showed that student enrollment was remaining steady at 1445 for the last three years after a regular decline since 2016/17 when it was at 1860. Unfortunately, over the same time period, the special education population has not declined (now at 263 students) and the English Learner population has doubled to 84 students. Concerns remain focused on staff recruiting and retention in a highly competitive market for quality teachers.

  Dr. Hester and Assistant Superintendent of Administration Shannon Irving presented an updated budget on March 13, 2025 based on new developments. Health insurance was now known to have 12% higher rates and the bipartisan Virginia conference budget was used as the basis for the state (instead of the Governor’s December budget) as well as newly revised local and federal carryover revenue projections leading to a new total budget of $33,879,480 with a need for $1,614,298 of additional funding from the County. This budget request was approved by the School Board and presented to the County Board of Supervisors. The joint boards discussed this budget request on March 20, 2025 with an updated Superintendent FY 2026 Budget Presentation.

  The explanations for the increases to the budget are shown below but are principally for a 2.61 to 3.0% salary (and related benefit) increase for all staff that corresponds to a state funded SOQ staff increase of 3% and the 12 month inflation rate of 2.9%.

The County acknowledged the “capital” (non-recurring) part of the budget request for four buses and the lack of recent bus purchases which has led to 28 buses in the 65 bus fleet having over 150,000 miles and 21 buses exceeding the state’s recommended 15 year life. This led to a discussion about other possible deferred capital needs (HVAC replacements for RRES in particular) but also the acknowledgement that the Phase II HS renovation recently approved for a bond issue up to $25M has taken most of the available County funding capacity.( See chart on the age of the bus fleet.)

The County Board of Supervisors has included the School’s FY 2026 funding request of $33,879,480 in the advertisement for a public hearing on May 13, 2025 with possible changes and a final adoption and appropriation of the budget on June 10. In the meantime, they have allowed School staff to order four buses with a letter acknowledging that the order is “pending appropriation” because of the long lead time (January 2026 at the earliest if they order now).

During all the budget meetings and specifically at the April 10 School Board update, school staff discussed the uncertainties around the FY 2026 budget preparation. These are shown below but of particular concern is federal funding from the FCC for eRate eligible expenses (technology, internet connectivity; significant nationwide impact) and a lowering of eligibility for federal reimbursements for division-wide free breakfasts and lunches - a highly successful service for Nelson County students, the majority of whom would qualify as economically disadvantaged (this potential change could impact up to 12 million students nationwide). There is also concern about the state budget and Governor Youngkin’s budget amendments that could lower the revenue distributed to Nelson Co. from the General Assembly-approved conference budget. The state should reach a budget compromise on May 2nd with no known date for federal funding changes. School staff have been working through different scenarios should there be funding decreases from any of their funding sources.

During each of this year’s School Board meetings, the Supervisor of Maintenance Les Campbell has updated the School Board on capital projects. An ongoing project has been renovating the chiller at the high school which may have all final units brought online during Spring Break (April 16 and 17). The main focus will now turn to the HS Phase II Renovation which has a FY 2026 proposed appropriation of $22,065,327. The project budget was approved and a contract signed with MP Contractors during March with the kick off meeting with MP, Moseley Architects and school staff on March 24, 2025. Students, families and citizens should start seeing activity for this project during Spring Break, during the evenings until school lets out and then extensively through the summer, with a focus first on bringing in a new waterline and the CTE wing.