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RPS budget draft funds collective-bargaining raises, prompts debate over junior auditor cut
Summary
Superintendent and staff presented a FY2026 budget first read that includes $16.5 million for bargaining agreements and reductions to balance the plan; board members pressed on proposed vacancy savings and a contested proposal to eliminate a junior auditor line item tied to student-activity audits.
Richmond Public Schools presented its FY2026 operating and capital budget draft to the board in a first-read briefing that funds collective bargaining increases while identifying $13.7 million in reductions.
Superintendent and finance staff said the draft fully funds contract agreements and includes a $16.5 million package that covers a 3% raise for teachers and raises or step increases for other employee groups. The package, staff said, also increases several minimum salaries — for example, raising the starting pay for care-and-safety staff to $44,000 — and aims to preserve step increases and position-level raises across the system.
To pay for the investments the administration also proposed reductions that include eliminating 24 vacant teacher positions and three instructional assistant positions that otherwise would have been assigned to schools, along with roughly $800,000 of non-school-based vacancy savings. Staff described a multistep staffing allocation process that prioritizes vacant positions first, then volunteers and administrative transfers, and emphasized that two-thirds of reassignments historically occur through vacancies or volunteers.
Board members pressed for clarity on revenue assumptions, noting a $3 million historic tax credit tied to a Fox renovation as a one-time revenue source; staff warned that such one-time dollars will not recur in FY2027. Members also sought clearer itemization of how the $16.5 million for bargaining is allocated across salary and benefits; staff said they could provide separate line items for transparency.
The budget discussion focused closely on a proposed deletion of a junior auditor position. Administration said the junior position had been vacant for 14 months and that the student-activity-fund audits previously assigned to the position have been contracted out to an external auditor; the proposed elimination would save roughly $125,000. Several board members objected, saying the auditing department remains understaffed, that student-activity funds require ongoing local oversight and that the contracted audit work should not replace in‑house capacity.
Board members noted an existing external contract for the student-activity-fund work and asked whether the contract will continue if the in‑house position remains. Administration said the contract is budgeted for next year and that timing of hires would determine whether both internal and contracted work overlap; administrators said they would review contract terms.
After extended discussion the board took a nonbinding “pulse” to indicate preference. A subsequent vote to restore the junior auditor line item drew a majority and the chair directed administration to add the position back into the recommended budget and identify offsetting savings elsewhere before final action.
Other budget items discussed included: the district’s staff-allocation changes (the district uses internal business rules that set K–3 maximum class sizes at 19 rather than the state’s 24); proposed reductions that staff said would be carried out first by using vacancies and volunteers when possible; and larger structural worries about likely lean years ahead tied to state and federal revenue trends. Several board members urged more detailed five-year fiscal outlooks before entering future bargaining cycles.
