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Amelia County Public Schools presents FY26 budget request, including 4% pay plan and new positions
Summary
Amelia County Public Schools presented its proposed fiscal 2026 budget to the county board, asking the county to provide the required local match to maximize state funds while proposing a 4% salary-scale increase, several new positions and continued planning to transition grant-funded mental-health staff into the local budget.
Amelia County Public Schools officials presented their proposed fiscal year 2026 budget at a county budget workshop, telling the Board of Supervisors that the plan relies on the locality providing the required local match so the schools can collect the full state allocations.
School officials said the district used the state—alculations Template and aligned its average daily membership (ADM) projections with the state—stimate. The presentation noted an ADM of about 1,515 (state Calc tool 1,514.8) and a per-pupil expenditure in the proposed FY26 budget of $16,857.31.
The schools proposed a 4% increase to the salary scale, saying that the state—ompensation supplement projects a minimum 3% increase and that the district built a 4% raise into its budget to remain competitive. The presenter said the budget adds roughly $404,800 in new personnel costs, including an additional English-learner (EL) teacher (to meet new state staffing standards), a speech-language pathologist, career and technical education (CTE) teachers, mentorship positions and limited clerical support. The proposal also budgets for the replacement of two school buses (one previously budgeted and one newly included).
Officials highlighted a change in state EL staffing requirements that will require the district to move from one dedicated EL teacher in FY24 to at least three in FY26 under the new standards. The presenter emphasized the district—xpects some added state funding for the EL staffing but cautioned that state aid often does not fully cover total costs.
The presentation explained how state actions in the recent legislative session affected school funding: the legislature removed the support-staff cap from the funding formula and added a special-education supplement and other modifications. Officials said they used the legislative amendments and publicly released state projections as the basis for available funding.
On student mental health, presenters said two school-based positions (a social worker and a counselor) are currently funded by a federal grant that covers 75% of costs and that the grant is scheduled to end in December 2027. To avoid layoffs at grant expiration, the budget proposes incrementally transitioning those positions from grant funding to the local budget (moving one position from 25% to 50% local funding in the proposal and planning to continue transition later).
School staff also noted continuing concerns about high health-insurance premiums for employees and budgeted a 5% increase in insurance costs while indicating the county—hoice health plan projections may be lower; staff said they planned to use any margin to stabilize or reduce employee premium contributions.
The presentation closed with a reminder that the full budget document is available to the board and that staff would return for additional work sessions and questions as the county and school process move forward.
Ending: School officials said they will continue discussions with county staff at upcoming budget work sessions and will provide more detailed line-item information as the budget process continues.
