Albemarle County schools Superintendent Matt Haas presented a $311 million draft funding request for the 2026-27 school year to the School Board at its February 12 meeting. The proposed budget is $27 m illion higher than last year—an almost 10% jump in funding—even as student enrollment is expected to rise by only 118 students divisionwide (a less than 1% increase). This level of expenditures would bring the school division’s spending to a rate of $22,500 per student, up from $16,000 five years ago and among the highest per pupil rates in Virginia.
Albemarle’s school funding is provided by local, state, and federal sources, with the largest slice by far (73% of the total budget) coming from the county. “A 16.5% increase in the state portion reflects the restoration of the state funding that had been reduced in the prior two years, rather than new or expanded support,” said Haas. “Local revenues are increasing by about 7.2% which aligns with growth in local tax assessments. (See article on tax assessments in this issue.) School operations are funded through a longstanding local tax revenue formula that allocates about 54% of county revenues to schools each year.”
After two years of proposing deficit budgets (in which expenditures exceeded revenues), Haas’ spending plan squarely hit the $311 million in funding provided by state and local sources this year. Division officials say they use a “zero-based budgeting” strategy, which implies that every expense is examined and justified anew (from zero) each year. However, in his presentation, Haas’s “needs-based” plan began with a “baseline budget” of $287 million (last year’s funding request) and added on from there.
“Ninety-four percent of the budget supports our current level of service and includes salaries and benefits, staffing and services, and the ongoing costs of operating our schools,” said Haas, “as well as opening two new school buildings this fall.”
He attributed another $12 million of the draft funding proposal as dedicated to “commitments tied to our recently adopted collective bargaining agreement [with the Albemarle educators’ union],” including compensation increases and working condition benefits for all Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) employees…