Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ACPS budget update: projected $283.9M revenues; staff propose additional service reductions to close $800,000 gap
Summary
Director of budget and planning Maya Kumazawa told the board the division's balancing scenario assumes $283.9 million in school fund revenues for FY26 and would require about $800,000 in expenditure reductions, including increases to class-size staffing ratios and proposed reductions totaling roughly 14 other school-based FTE.
Maya Kumazawa, director of budget and planning for Albemarle County Public Schools, presented an update on the FY26 budget-development process at the April 10 school board meeting.
Kumazawa said the division's balancing scenario projects school fund revenues of $283,900,000 for fiscal year 2026 and that the remaining budget gap to close is about $800,000. "The balancing scenario that I'll present this evening is, $283,900,000, which equals our projected revenues for FY26. And in order to get there, we would have to reduce expenditures by about $800,000," she said.
Her presentation traced the funding outlook since the board first saw a draft funding request on Feb. 20. The draft showed a funding deficit of $7.8 million, updated revenue projections from the county executive and board of supervisors added roughly $2.8 million, and the board subsequently approved service reductions totaling about $4.2 million; those changes have narrowed the gap to the current approximately $800,000 shortfall, Kumazawa said.
On the expenditure side, the approved funding request initially reflected a $15.3 million spending increase that has been revised to a $14.5 million increase in the staff scenario presented April 10. That reduction results in part from technical updates, shared-licensing cost reductions charged by the county, and proposed additional service reductions.
Kumazawa described a new proposal to increase the number of "other school-based" staffing reductions to 14 FTE, an adjustment that includes revising staffing standards (for example, a divisionwide reduction of 3.3 physical-education FTE and a 0.33 reduction in a middle-school media specialist) and increasing student-to-teacher class-size ratios by an average 0.6 FTE per school, which she said totals about 8 FTE across the division. The scenario also recommended increasing previously approved service reductions by about 6 FTE.
Kumazawa said the board is scheduled to adopt a balanced budget on May 8, one day after the board of supervisors finalizes the local transfer to the schools. She offered to return with the same information in two weeks for additional board discussion and public input.
Board members asked clarifying questions about FTE counts and the timeline for final approval; Kumazawa confirmed the numbers are projections tied to the county's most recent revenue guidance and that staff will return with updates if revenues change before adoption.
