Henrico Schools' budget would provide 6% raise for all staff, higher raises for IAs and support staff

Henrico Schools’ recommended $914.2-million overall budget for 2025-2026, which the Henrico School Board approved on Feb. 27, would give all HCPS staff members a 6% raise and offer raises between 13.8% and 19.3% to instructional assistants and other support staff positions.

All full-time HCPS employees would receive a 3.63% wage increase plus a pay step increase that would amount to a 6% raise for the next school year. Certain support staff, including both general and exceptional education IAs, custodial workers and custodians, maintenance assistants, and school nutrition workers would receive raises up to 19.3% depending on the role.

HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell first announced the raises at a Henrico County press conference on Feb. 25, where County Manager John Vithoulkas also announced that all county employees would receive the same 6% raise. The HCPS budget still has to be approved by the Board of Supervisors before raises are finalized.

This is one of the earliest dates HCPS has announced employee raises, with annual raises usually being announced later in March.

“We’re really excited about this raise announcement, and we’re really excited that it was able to come forth in February. I don’t know that that’s been the case [during] any of my time on the board,” said school board chair Marcie Shea (Tuckahoe District). “This is really exciting for our employees to be able to plan and hopefully decide to stay in Henrico for next year.”

With these raises, the minimum wage for HCPS staff will increase from $15.76 an hour to $16.33 an hour. For some support staff who have been with the division three years or longer, the total amount of their pay could be increased by more than 25% over the last three years.

“I mean, a quarter of your entire salary going up over the past three years – which I think is huge,” said board vice-chair Madison Irving (Three Chopt District). “That makes us a regional leader and I would assume also a state leader in that category.”

Proposal would convert some part-time IA positions to full-time

HCPS leaders also added two new changes to the recommended budget: a proposal to convert 150 part-time exceptional education IA positions into 100 full-time IA positions, while also adding 20 new full-time special ed IA positions to the Campus at Virginia Randolph, and the addition of 10 new English Learner teachers, increasing the budget allocation to 25 new ESL teachers next school year. 

HCPS would still have positions for part-time IAs, Cashwell said, since the needs and schedules of exceptional education students can be “nuanced.” But many part-time IAs are already doing hours close to full-time positions, she said, and switching to full-time roles would likely not be a huge change for them.

Adding more full-time special education IAs on top of higher pay raises for IAs and other support staff shows how HCPS values all of its employees, Irving said. 

“I think it shows that we see them and we hear them and we appreciate the work they do and are prioritizing them in the way that they deserve,” he said.

Last year, many IAs criticized the division after being passed up on certain pay raises. HCPS’ budget last year provided a 4.8% raise to all staff and a 7.2% raise to teachers and bus drivers, but not to other support staff like IAs. 

“I just appreciate the team’s responsiveness to all the feedback that we received,” said Brookland District board member Kristi Kinsella. “We are nimble and responsive in Henrico, but as we all know, money does not grow on trees. So it does take time…It is important our employees feel seen, heard, and valued.”

Irving also recommended that front office staff be considered for a similar raise as given to IA positions. HCPS staff is currently doing a market analysis on the pay rates of clerical staff, Cashwell said, and will look into options for raises in the future.

Cashwell also emphasized that employee feedback would always be taken into consideration when making pay adjustments. 

“With employee compensation, you see a big outcome here, prioritizing employee groups that the board mentioned. …but equally important is involving our employees in the work, and so that often takes time,” she said. “And so through our advisory committees and other avenues, we’re really committed to spending the extra time to involve them in conversations, to make sure that any adjustments that we’re making are responsive to their needs.”

Irving also pushed for future budgets to prioritize reducing class sizes, suggesting that Cashwell look at implementing a cap on high school core classes at a maximum of 28 students.

More state aid likely coming

HCPS’s budget this year will likely see $57 million more in state aid than last year in the General Assembly’s Conference Budget, said HCPS Chief Financial Officer John Wack.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed budget would add about $46 million, while both House and Senate versions of the Conference budget would add an additional $11 million onto that proposal. Legislative efforts to remove the state’s cap on support staff funding, which still has to be signed off on by Youngkin, would also provide HCPS with additional funding.

A bill proposed by Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D-13th District), which would have provided $1 million to Henrico’s “Opportunity Schools,” did not pass this legislative session. However, HCPS will still be able to supply the $1 million for the Opportunity Schools program from other revenue sources, Wack said, which will be used to expand the program to two new schools.

HCPS’s recommended budget – which includes a $733.8-million general fund, $56 million in debt service (to pay off large infrastructure projects) and $124.2 million in special revenue funds – would represent a $33-million increase from last year. It would add seven more school security officers to open campus-style middle and high schools and five more school counselors divisionwide.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.