Williamsburg-James City board hears preliminary FY27 budget with focus on pay, grant transitions and mandated cost increases

School leaders for Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools presented a preliminary Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget at a board work session, outlining revenue assumptions, required cost increases and multiple compensation scenarios to guide upcoming decisions. The board scheduled additional work sessions on Jan. 13 to focus on compensation and FTEs and on Jan. 20 to examine health-care and revenue projections.

The presentation, led by the division’s finance director and senior leadership, described the fiscal constraints affecting the proposed budget and posed three guiding questions: how investments support student learning and well-being; how to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining staff; and how to steward public resources transparently and sustainably. “Question 1 is how do our financial investments most directly support student learning and well-being?” the superintendent said as she framed the discussion.

Ms. Bowen, the division’s director of finance, summarized state funding assumptions tied to the governor’s introduced budget and technical rebenchmarking adjustments. She said the division expects an increase in SOQ (Standards of Quality) funding and other direct-aid adjustments, and cited specific revenue figures presented by staff: roughly $5.3 million in increased SOQ funding, an estimated $879,000 increase tied to sales taxes and about $125,000 in additional lottery funding, producing an overall projected state funding increase of about $4.6 million (approximately 6%). The presentation also noted a baseline local contribution increase agreed in October of $6,000,000 for FY27.

The division flagged enrollment as a key driver of both revenue and expenditures. Staff reported a recent drop of 233 students in the current year’s count and said long-range projections are being used to plan staffing and program needs; preschool enrollment was cited at 395 students and is not included in K–12 per‑pupil calculations.

Compensation emerged as a central theme. Staff reviewed last year’s phased implementation of recommendations from a compensation study and said the division raised minimum pay to $15.50 an hour for the unified scale. The state’s introduced budget includes a 2% increase for funded SOQ instructional and support positions effective July 1 (with a second 2% step proposed a year later), but local costs to implement additional increases would fall to the division. “We raised the minimum pay rate for all employees to $15.50 an hour,” the superintendent said. Board members pushed for scenarios that would aim for a historical minimum of 3% across the board and asked staff to return on Jan. 13 with multiple compensation options and the fiscal impacts of each.

Staff also warned that several previously grant-funded positions and one-time state funds are expiring. The presentation described plans to transition certain positions (including some funded by Title I and Title II grants) into the operating budget and estimated four additional positions would move into the operating budget in FY27 unless new grant funding is secured. Officials said they would provide the board with more detail on the number, job classification and cost of those positions.

Mandatory cost increases were highlighted in areas with limited local discretion, including special-education placements, contractual obligations, insurance and shared services with James City County. The division estimated New Horizons special-education placements could require about a 20% budget increase in that program, and staff noted an expansion of athletic-training coverage to all middle schools. The Canvas learning-management system has been provided through state support in the past; staff included local funding in the proposed budget to preserve continuity if state support lapses.

Board members repeatedly emphasized support‑staff pay, stipends and retention. Several members asked for benchmarking and historical stipend data; staff said Bolton (the consultant used for the compensation study) had conducted stipend benchmarking and that the division would provide more detailed comparisons to neighboring districts and recommended allocations at the Jan. 13 meeting.

The board approved the meeting agenda at the session start by voice/roll-call and agreed to continue discussions at the scheduled January work sessions; the superintendent is expected to present a proposed budget in February. The work session adjourned after the planned discussion.