Council amends Roanoke schools budget; councilor recuses herself citing state code

The Roanoke City Council adopted an ordinance Tuesday amending the City of Roanoke’s fiscal-year 2024–25 budget to appropriate additional funding for the Roanoke City Public Schools to address budget shortfalls and to continue capital projects.

Councilwoman Vivian Sanchez Jones read a statement to the record saying she has a personal interest in the item because she is an employee of Roanoke City Public Schools and cited Virginia Code Section 2.2-3112 as the basis for her recusal; she asked the city clerk to accept the statement and include it in the minutes. The council proceeded with the public hearing; no members of the public were signed up to speak on the item.

During council discussion, a city staff member identified as Ms. Lindsay and other school officials present — Dr. Seibert and Mr. Perkins — were acknowledged by the mayor. Ms. Lindsay explained the city’s practice of setting aside capital funding and described the SNAP (state-managed bond cash) account used to hold bond proceeds until projects require reimbursement. She said the city’s capital-improvement plan typically sets aside $5 million per year for capital projects, and that SNAP accounts track bond proceeds and reimbursements for project expenditures.

Council voted by roll call; the clerk recorded unanimous “aye” votes from the members present, and the mayor declared the ordinance passed.

Sanchez Jones did not participate in the discussion or vote on the item, and asked that her statement be entered into the minutes as required by the cited state code.