By Charlotte Matherly, contributor
Rockingham County schools are on the precipice of the largest revenue increase in years — but don’t get too excited, Justin Moyers, the district’s chief financial officer, warned school board members.
State education aid for Rockingham County, he estimated, could increase by more than $13.8 million in the 2026-27 school year if the General Assembly embraces the budget draft that new Gov. Abigail Spanberger proposed.
“That is the largest growth we have had in a long time,” Moyers told school board members at Monday’s meeting. “But I will also caution you … it goes very quickly.”
State assistance, now at $112 million, combined with roughly $6 million from the federal government, leaves $83.8 million to local taxpayers. The county’s Board of Supervisors oversees the district’s requests for local funds.
Despite the potential increase in revenue, the school board will have to contend with salary raises and rising health insurance costs, according to a presentation last month. The district will need to budget $3.3 million for statewide raises that were enacted last year, and health insurance costs are set to go up roughly 14.5%, about $2.75 million.
There are other, smaller increases in instructional and school safety expenses, as well as requests to replace eight school buses.
The district is currently reviewing budget requests from each school and department which total nearly $209 million — an $18 million increase from this year and higher than the $202 million in estimated revenue.
With that in mind, Superintendent Larry Shifflett said officials will need to be judicious about what new things or wish-list items to add, although he isn’t looking to slash current positions or programs from the budget.
“The discussion, then, among the board is like, ‘What do we say no to?’” Shifflett said. “I don’t want people to get alarmed and think we’re going to cut programs … We’re not cutting programs.”
Moyers said he wants the school district to plan ahead and be “good stewards” of the additional money from the state.
The amount could change as state lawmakers negotiate their spending plan. Virginia pitches in a certain amount per student and assesses each school district’s affordability to pay for education, Moyers said. The state also recently reevaluated its teacher salaries and is giving school districts more assistance to account for rising wages.
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