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Parents, teachers and RVA staff urge Richmond City Council to fully fund Richmond Virtual Academy in FY27 budget
Summary
Dozens of parents, teachers and RVA staff told Richmond City Council during a marathon public hearing that Richmond Virtual Academy is an accredited K–12 school serving students with disabilities and other needs; speakers urged the council to approve an additional $3,000,000 and fully fund the Richmond Public Schools budget.
Dozens of parents, teachers and staff told Richmond City Council on Monday that the Richmond Virtual Academy (RVA) must be fully funded in the city’s FY27 budget to preserve an accredited K–12 option that serves students with significant needs.
Dr. Cindy Robinson Carney, principal of RVA, told the council the school requested an additional $3,000,000 to “keep our virtual doors open” and described RVA as “not a luxury or a COVID‑19 project” but a “trailblazing, fully accredited K–12 school.” Jacqueline Johnson Wilson, a RVA parent, said closing RVA would remove the least‑restrictive educational setting for students with disabilities and could raise legal questions under federal IDEA protections: “If RVA is eliminated, my child does not all of a sudden fit into a traditional school.”
Other speakers — including teachers, union representatives and school staff — echoed that testimony. Sandra Portee, RVA’s virtual learning and homebound coordinator, told council that homebound instruction is “temporary by design” and cannot replace the comprehensive curriculum and peer connections RVA provides. Tamara Lofton Pickens, RVA instructional compliance coordinator, said RVA is not separate from Richmond Public Schools and identified RVA as school number 1322, urging council to treat the program as an essential school rather than a cost‑cutting target.
Union leaders and teachers also pressed for financial transparency. Egon Shroud, a teacher and union representative, cited multi‑year discrepancies between budgeted and actual expenditures at Richmond Public Schools and urged a third‑party forensic audit alongside full funding: “If my livelihood is on the line every time RPS belt needs tightening, I deserve to know where that money is going.”
Supporters said RVA returns students to learning, reduces truancy and provides intensive supports that many traditional buildings cannot offer. Beth Hosek, a teacher and Richmond native, told council the superintendent’s budget addresses staffing, pay and program needs and warned that voting down the budget would eliminate summer school and other services. Multiple speakers asked council to make RPS funding contingent on an audit to restore public confidence.
The council closed the budget public hearing after hearing from dozens of residents and moved to continue all pending budget ordinances to a Monday, April 13 meeting, when the council will hold a public hearing on specific council amendments.
What happens next: Council voted to continue the budget papers to the April 13 meeting for further consideration; no final appropriation vote was taken at this session.
