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Roanoke school board approves $800,000 transfer for textbooks as FY26 budget pressures loom
Summary
The Roanoke City Public Schools board approved a FY25 budget amendment to shift $800,000 into instruction to buy required textbooks and heard an extended FY26 budget briefing outlining potential cuts (after-school activity buses, reduced maintenance), enrollment changes and possible use of fund balance.
The Roanoke City Public Schools board on May 13 approved a fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment that reallocated $800,000 from administrative categories into instruction to cover required textbook purchases.
Chief Financial Officer Mrs. Jackson told the board the transfer is a reclassification within the existing appropriation and does not increase the overall budget. "We have identified unspent funds in the current year budget, the majority of which are already in our instructional category," Jackson said, explaining the move will enable the district to purchase textbooks and prepare professional learning over the summer.
After the vote, Jackson delivered an extended briefing on the FY26 budget picture. She said state and local revenue changes— including the governor’s veto activity and the restoration of a support-staff cap line in the state budget—require the division to fine-tune revenue estimates. Jackson recommended a conservative average-daily-membership (ADM) assumption of 12.984 (down from a higher state estimate) to avoid overestimating state revenue, and said that adjustment reduces projected state funding by about $880,000.
Jackson described a list of cost-reduction options being considered to close the division’s gap between proposed spending and projected revenues. Those options include eliminating funded after-school activity buses, reducing facility-maintenance budgets by roughly 10%, and deferring or reducing modular classroom projects. She also said some positions will convert to meet newly required English-learner staffing but that certain items—such as activity buses—would be removed under the current proposal.
"There’s a domino effect," Jackson said, noting that use of one-time fund balance to cover recurring expenses would create planning challenges for future years. She said the division’s March financial experience projects a near-term improvement on expenditures, but continued prudence is needed.
Board members pressed for details on specific line items, including how transportation contracting and individualized transportation costs drive variability and how reductions could affect families who rely on after-school services. Several trustees emphasized the personal impacts of service reductions, especially on single parents and families dependent on activity buses to access school athletics and programs.
Superintendent White acknowledged the hard choices ahead and said the division will continue communication with the City to clarify local funding levels and next steps. The board was told a more finalized FY26 proposal will be presented at a workshop later in the month with a possible formal vote in June.
Action taken: the board approved the FY25 general fund amendment (move of $800,000 from administration to instruction) by voice vote. Additional budget choices for FY26 remain under review; the administration said it will return with refined proposals and a timeline for public hearings and final action.
