Henrico Schools’ proposed $665.1M budget represents 3.6% increase from current plan

In the latest sign that Henrico’s economy has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic better than expected, Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell is proposing a $665.1-million budget for the school system in the coming fiscal year – a 3.6% increase from its current budget.

The Fiscal Year 2022 proposal also represents a 0.6% bump from the $660.9-million budget Cashwell had proposed a year ago – before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing county and schools officials to slash spending plans. (The Henrico School Board eventually adopted a reduced $642.2-million budget for the current fiscal year.)

The new proposal, which would take effect July 1, includes a 3.2% increase – from $509.9 million to $526.1 million – in the school system’s general fund (money used to operate schools, pay employees and conduct other day-to-day business).

That’s still less than the $533.4-million general fund proposal Cashwell put forth last year before the pandemic began, but it represents a typical rate of year-to-year growth.

And, it doesn’t yet include a potential employee pay raise, because discussions about that possibility are ongoing at the general government level. Henrico operates on a unified pay plan, meaning that any proposed pay raise must be offered to all eligible employees countywide, not just those from one department or agency.

In a letter outlining her budget proposal obtained by the Citizen Thursday, Cashwell suggested that positive news on that front could be forthcoming.

“Additional compensation is a goal this year, and I urge you to stay tuned for more information in the near future,” she wrote.

Among other significant elements of Cashwell’s new proposal:

• the restoration of funding for about 60 previously frozen job vacancies within the school system (which had been implemented as a pandemic-induced cost-savings measure);

• full funding for all existing positions in the system;

• funding for the implementation of a school bus-tracking app that will allow parents to locate their child’s bus in real time (a plan that had been discussed last year);

• funding to continue permanently 10new school counselor positions that were created with CARES Act money;

• $3 million to cover completely the rising healthcare costs of employees.

The proposal also calls for a 17.2% funding increase – to $4.37 million – for instructional costs at the Achievable Dream Academy at Highland Springs Elementary School – a program that came under fire from some school board members in November, when they learned that last year, the percentage of students in grades 1-5 at the school who were reading at or above their individual grade levels ranged from just 3% (among fifth-graders) to 19% (among first- and third-graders). The budget also calls for more than $74,000 in new instructional technology for the program.

The budget does not include any portion of the $25 million that the county's board of supervisors authorized in December for pay increases for county employees, according to HCPS spokesman Andy Jenks. Discussion of that money is likely to come up as the budget process continues, he said.

In addition to the general fund, the school system budget also includes two other elements:

• the debt service fund (money used to pay off projects financed by the sale of bonds) – it’s proposed to increase by 10.3% in the coming fiscal year, from $40.6 million to $44.8 million.

• the special revenue fund (primarily state and federal funding, such as money to pay for school nutrition services) – it’s proposed to increase by 2.7%, from $91.7 million to $94.2 million.

School officials next will review the proposed budget with County Manager John Vithoulkas Feb. 5, prior to a Feb. 11 school board public hearing, during which citizens may provide input about it. The board intends to approve the proposal during its Feb. 25 meeting and then send it to the Henrico Board of Supervisors for consideration.

Supervisors will hold a series of budget reviews with officials from each government agency in mid-March and then will hold their own public hearing about the county’s overall budget April 13 before voting to adopt a budget April 27.