The Stafford County school division’s budget is now set for the next fiscal year.
The county school board voted unanimously Wednesday night to adopt a final $525.9 million budget for fiscal 2027, which begins July 1.
The board approved a preliminary $529.3 million spending plan in February. But the Stafford Board of Supervisors didn’t appropriate enough local revenue to balance that figure when it adopted an overall county budget Tuesday, so the school board had to make adjustments the next day.
With the school system administration’s guidance, the school board made $2 million worth of cuts to its preliminary budget and deferred spending another $1.9 million until the division finds out exactly how much money it will receive from the state in fiscal 2027. Budget writers in the Virginia General Assembly are still at odds over data center tax breaks and have yet to approve a spending plan.
The school board also agreed to additional reductions in its budget to absorb an anticipated $450,000 increase in fuel costs, the school system noted in an announcement of the budget action released Wednesday night.
According to the announcement, the FY27 budget includes:
- $10.6 million for new school operating costs, driven by the opening of Falls Run and Crow’s Nest elementary schools and Hartwood High this fall
- $16.2 million for employee pay, supporting a 4.75% average increase across all employees and raising the starting teacher salary to $54,000.
The school board acted Wednesday night with little discussion. But Chairwoman Elizabeth Warner said in the announcement that this year’s budget process saw a “positive working relationship” between her board and the board of supervisors.
“We are grateful for the board of supervisors’ commitment to funding our schools in a way that allows us to open three new schools on time this fall and to provide competitive, comparable salary increases for our staff,” Warner said. “This level of support reflects a shared understanding of the importance of attracting and retaining high-quality educators and staff for our students.”
