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Amherst County schools ask for up to $1.95 million amid enrollment and state-aid changes
Summary
Amherst County Public Schools presented a FY27 funding request that would raise the county—s contribution by about $1.95 million, most of it to restore reduced state aid and to cover enrollment and health‑insurance costs; the board heard the rationale and asked the schools to identify contingency plans if full funding is not available.
The superintendent of Amherst County Public Schools told supervisors the division needs up to $1.95 million in additional local funding in a worst-case state aid scenario (governor—s budget) and said the request was reduced after internal cuts.
The schools cited three principal drivers: a projected enrollment decline of about 13.65 average daily membership (ADM) that reduces state funding (presenter estimated ~ $134,000), a change in the local composite index that reduces state support (presenter estimated ~$564,000), and recurring cost increases such as a projected 5% increase in the school division—s health insurance. The superintendent said roughly $1.6 million of the $1.95 million ask would "get us back whole" (restoring base funding); approximately $330,000 is the new request to add targeted positions in career and technical education and to staff lower-performing schools.
Board members questioned the superintendent on positions, past COVID-era staffing, cost per student (the superintendent stated an approximate $15,500 per pupil figure), CIP carryovers, and an Amher st Online Academy idea to serve homeschooled families. The schools said they trimmed their initial request (which started near $2.1M) by cutting nonessential positions and converting some grant positions where possible.
Several supervisors said they want the new superintendent (the division is completing a leadership transition) to take office with a stable baseline and expressed support for preserving student-facing services; at the same time members asked the schools to prepare contingency plans if the county cannot fund the full $1.95M.
What happens next: the board signaled initial support for the superintendent—s priorities and asked finance staff to model the county budget with the schools' request and with alternative lower packages for the March 25 budget workshop and next week's public hearing.
