FY 2027 Budget

• December — The (outgoing) Governor releases their proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes education priorities, and (in even years, like 2026) a “caboose” budget for the current fiscal year. This gives school divisions an understanding of what state funds to expect. 
• January — The RPS Administration prepares a budget and presents it to the Richmond City School Board. RPS then holds feedback sessions for the public to weigh in. Simultaneously, the General Assembly begins to deliberate on the overall state budget. 
• February — The School Board votes to approve the budget, moving it to the Mayor and the City Council, for final approval of the City contribution.
• March — The Mayor includes his recommendations for RPS’ budget in his proposal to City Council.
• April — City Council deliberates the full City budget, including the School Board’s request. The General Assembly reconvenes if necessary to finalize state funding. 
• May — City Council votes on a final budget. Typically, the Governor signs the state budget at this time, as well. 
• June — The Administration makes any adjustments to the upcoming budget based on Council’s allocation + changes to state policy. 
• July — The new fiscal year begins. 

RPS receives funding from three sources: the City of Richmond, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the federal government. School divisions cannot levy taxes in Virginia, and so the School Board and the Administration work closely with elected officials to ensure our needs are communicated and met.  

Commonwealth of Virginia

• The Commonwealth of Virginia has the constitutional responsibility for all Virginia students’ education. The General Assembly (GA) appropriates funding to all school divisions, based on a funding formula. The Local Composite Index or LCI (see sidebar) and the Commonwealth’s Standards of Quality are the foundation of the state’s appropriation.

The City of Richmond

• In FY27, the City of Richmond (CoR) is expected to contribute 58 percent of RPS’ budget, based on the state’s funding formula. CoR funding also offers RPS the most flexibility to fund priorities, as state funding is set by statute. However, the CoR also needs to fund important services that support our families — like housing supports, social services, police, and infrastructure. 

The U.S. government

• Finally, the U.S. federal government contributes about 12 percent of RPS’ budget. You may hear this referred to as Title funding, because these funds align to a specific “Title” grant. Federal funds are specifically meant to even the playing field for under-resourced schools. Federal funding supports our nutrition program, teacher development, and services for multilingual learners.

The LCI is based on three factors: The true value of real-estate property, the adjusted gross income of residents, and the amount of retail sales, compared to the number of local students served by the school division. In FY27, Richmond’s LCI will be 58%, meaning the City of Richmond is expected to pay 58% of the education budget. Somewhat surprisingly, our neighboring counties have lower LCIs: Henrico’s is 43% and Chesterfield’s is 36%. This means that the State expects Henrico to pay only 43% of total education costs, and Chesterfield to pay only 36% – with the State picking up the tab for the balance.

The overwhelming majority of funds go directly into schools or student assistance, including transportation, behavioral specialists, and family services. The remainder covers centralized services, including payroll, academic supports, and human resources. This year, RPS prioritized preserving as much school-level funding as possible. We’ve seen huge impacts from those investments over the last five years, and we don’t want to lose any momentum. 
 

RPS receives funds from a few additional sources, particularly for our infrastructure needs. Long-term facilities and infrastructure projects, like building new schools, are covered primarily by the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget. Over the last couple of years, RPS has also received funding from the state’s School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP). Since 2018, the Richmond City Meals Tax proceeds have also gone toward new school construction. 

While deeply appreciated, these investments unfortunately do not meet the school division’s needs. The average age of an RPS school building is 69 years, and an independent third-party estimates that we have more than $43 million in immediate facilities needs (such as roof repairs, boiler replacements, etc). Localities cannot fund infrastructure needs of this scale on their own. Over the next decade, this number will increase tenfold. State and federal level intervention is necessary. 
 

We are presenting a budget that preserves nearly all in-school personnel and programming. There are recommendations that impact wraparound programming, like after school time, social-emotional supports, and summer learning opportunities. We are working with partners to ensure continuity for students. Additionally, we are unfortunately recommending the closure of the Richmond Virtual Academy which was funded with COVID-era dollars. We will be working with those families to find the best option for their students, and working with RVA teachers to find a role at another school within RPS. 

For most of our employees — those whose insurance covers only themselves, themselves and a child, or themselves and a spouse — the impact will translate to between $10–$30 per pay period. RPS will conduct insurance open enrollment this spring, and we will be sharing more information directly with employees

If adopted by the Board, these changes will take place beginning at the start of our next fiscal year — July 1, 2026. There are no changes planned for our current year.