Stafford schools ask supervisors for up to $23.3 million as enrollment, health and capital costs climb

Stafford County Public Schools on Tuesday asked the Board of Supervisors for additional local funding to cover staffing, compensation and building needs as enrollment surges and benefit costs spike.

In a joint presentation, school leaders said their FY26 request would fund mandatory state staffing ratios, phase in teacher and service pay-scale steps and support capital needs for new and aging facilities. The division asked supervisors to provide at least $23.3 million to meet basic needs and identified an additional figure of $18.3 million as the amount needed to balance the year against the county administrator’s proposal.

The request arrives as the division projects roughly 6,200 more students over the next decade and says its 32,000 students already represent about one in five county residents. “We have an internal work group that’s looking at this. We’re trying to build out as many scenarios as we can,” said Dr. Smith, Stafford County Public Schools superintendent, referring to contingency planning if federal funding changes.

Why it matters: School operations in Stafford are highly dependent on a mix of local, state and federal dollars. The schools told supervisors they currently rely on about $33.3 million in federal funding for Title I, Head Start, nutrition and other programs and said sudden reductions would be difficult to replace locally.

What the schools requested and why

- Staffing…