School finance outlook: Henry County board hears FY27 projection showing roughly $2 million drop in state revenue
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Summary
Superintendent and finance staff told the board projected FY27 state revenue is about $2 million lower than FY26, with local share rising; a 2% across‑the‑board pay increase would cost roughly $1.5 million for the division.
Dr. Boone presented the division’s preliminary budget outlook to the Henry County School Board, summarizing state and local funding projections and the likely fiscal impact of a proposed 2% salary increase for staff.
He reported the numbers used in the presentation: state revenue for the current fiscal year (FY26) shown as $83,000,000.46 and a FY27 projection of $81,490,000 — a reduction of about $2,000,000 as presented to the board. Dr. Boone said the local composite index (LCI) is rising from 0.2247 to 0.2388, which increases the local share of funding; per-pupil funding cited in the slides was approximately $13,000 state and $3,600 local, for a combined average of about $16,500 per pupil.
On personnel costs, Dr. Boone said a 2% increase for all staff (teachers, classified staff, administration and grant-funded positions) would raise overall salary costs by about $1.5 million; he noted the state contribution toward that increase would be roughly $900,000 and local share about $275,000, leaving the division to identify about $500,000 internally to fully fund the raise under the governor’s introduced budget figures.
Dr. Boone also outlined spending priorities under consideration for FY27 if funding allows: additional elementary behavioral support positions, after-school tutoring, summer school programs previously funded by a prior initiative, additional itinerant fine-arts teachers at specific elementary schools, an assistant principal for Meadowview Elementary (enrollment ~650), and funding for facilities and security upgrades beyond the 1% sales-tax allocation.
Board members asked clarifying questions about enrollment trends (average daily membership noted in presentation as 6,342 currently and a projection used by the state of 6,236), the timeline for General Assembly budget actions (House and Senate amendments, expected actions on Feb. 22 and Feb. 26 per the presentation) and the possibility of spacing salary increases across categories. Dr. Boone said updated numbers from the Virginia Department of Education and the General Assembly would be available at upcoming meetings and that the board could expect revised figures at the March meeting and the joint board meeting on Feb. 24.
The presentation was informational; no budget adoption vote occurred that evening. The board scheduled a possible special meeting on March 19 to approve the budget if needed.