Officials warn LCI volatility and underfunded SOQs are forcing school cuts in Powhatan

Presenters at the joint legislative workshop told the Board of Supervisors and the School Board that changes in Virginia’s Local Composite Index (LCI) and chronic underfunding of the Standards of Quality (SOQs) have forced local leaders to use county revenue to replace diminishing state support. The superintendent said the county and schools “had to make some deep cuts in their budgets, including a loss of 15 teachers,” and noted deferred maintenance and reduced central-office staff as consequences of having to backfill state funding.

A state lawmaker at the meeting outlined ongoing state-level work on re-benchmarking school funding—Governor Youngkin’s budget proposed additional re-benchmark funding and different House and Senate figures were under negotiation—and urged that smoothing LCI changes (for example, multi-year smoothing) could reduce harmful year-to-year swings in state aid. Board members asked presenters for a historical LCI trajectory and state funding figures so local officials could quantify the impacts across multiple years.