Albemarle school board approves FY26 funding request after rejecting removal of SRO cuts

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. — On March 13, 2025, the Albemarle County School Board approved a modified fiscal year 2026 funding request of $284,699,140 in operating funds and $28,439,082 in special revenue funds after rejecting a motion to remove planned school resource officer (SRO) positions from the request.

The board’s final vote approved the modified scenario that maintains the district’s mental-health staffing and student safety coach positions while carrying an unresolved funding gap of about $747,000 to present to the Board of Supervisors. The motion to remove SROs failed on a 3–4 roll call; the funding request later passed on a 5–2 vote.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment and board discussion about discipline, racial equity, mental-health supports and whether armed officers belong in school buildings. Numerous speakers urged the board not to expand the SRO program and to maintain or restore counseling and mental-health positions. Laura Harrison, speaking from the Rio magisterial district, told the board, "You have no data on the impact of the SRO program," and urged the board to keep student safety coaches instead. Michelle Benedict, a teacher and parent, described mental-health support specialists as "like the breaths we just took," saying reductions would harm students who rely on crisis and ongoing emotional support.

Maya Komazawa, the division’s director of budget and…