The Board of Supervisors concluded its comprehensive review of the proposed $1.35 billion budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year Thursday with an examination of Henrico County Public Schools’ spending plan and a discussion with the Henrico School Board. Also included in the wrap-up session were reviews of spending proposals from the Information Technology Department and the Sustainability Division as well as the budget for capital improvement projects.
Next steps: the Board will hold a public hearing for the proposed budget at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in the Board Room at the Henrico Government Center, 4301 E. Parham Road. The Board is scheduled to vote on the budget at its April 8 meeting. If approved, the budget will take effect July 1.
- Henrico County Public Schools’ proposed general fund budget of $764 million for 2025-26 is supported by $429 million in state funding and $335 million in county funding. The proposed budget represents a $60 million increase, or 8.5%, over the current year.
- Over the past three years, HCPS has invested some $35 million in school safety and security, including funding for weapon scanners at high schools and additional school security officers. The proposed budget includes permanent funding for 53 school security officers and three supervisors, with a staffing focus on middle and high schools with an open campus design.
- The division continues to expand an effort to address teacher shortages and boost retention at targeted schools. The Opportunity Schools initiative is designed to support schools most impacted by teacher vacancies – an ongoing issue experienced nationally since the Covid pandemic – by adding support positions and stipends for licensed staff. The effort began at nine schools in 2024 and will expand to 12 schools in the proposed budget, representing a $16 million investment over three years. Two schools included in the initial launch of the initiative have since moved from conditional to full accreditation.
- A career ladder program is boosting retention of teachers and staff districtwide. The program, which provides coaching, mentoring and professional learning opportunities, has seen 172 teachers complete a specialization and 1,611 teachers earn a 30-hour microcredential. More than $21 million has been invested in the program over four years.
- A number of staff support positions have increased across the district in accordance with state requirements. Over the past five years, HCPS has added 102 English language learner positions and 59 school counselors, funded with $16.9 million in the proposed budget. Also, 51 reading specialists will be supported with $5.2 million in the proposed budget.
- Other staffing additions include five counselors to support the Henrico CARES mental health initiative for HCPS students and families and 83 positions to support programming and planning time at elementary schools.
- HCPS is investing $2 million annually over six years to add capacity at the district’s ACE (Advanced Career Education) centers at Hermitage and Highland Springs high schools and the Campus of Virginia Randolph. By 2030, the available seats for students will more than double, from 1,120 currently to 2,350.
- Speaking of Virginia Randolph, the proposed budget funds 52 new positions for the school, which is in the midst of significant renovation and expansion of the facility whose original building was constructed in 1929. The updated campus will feature 170,000 square feet across five buildings, with an opening for the second phase of the project tentatively targeted for January.
- Other capital projects in the pipeline include rebuilds of R.C. Longan and Jackson Davis elementary schools and renovation of Adams Elementary School, all slated to come online in the 2026-27 year. Henrico voters approved funding for the Longan and Davis projects in the 2022 bond referendum; voters approved funding for the Adams renovation in 2016.
- Over the past year, the Information Technology Department staff installed 35 miles of network and fiber-optic cable and more than 3,500 data jacks at county facilities, saving the county more than $650,000. The department also adjusted county contracts for wireless devices and internet service, saving another $200,000 and $60,000, respectively, each year.
- The Sustainability Division and Henrico’s Environmental Action Response Team, also known as HEART, continues to guide the county’s environmental stewardship efforts and investments in sustainability.
- Over the past five years, energy use at county buildings has been reduced by 8.5%. Some 22 general government and school facilities have been certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. Stream restoration projects have removed more than 1.1 million pounds of trash and pollutants from county streams, while 34 residential runoff ponds, known as BMPs, were restored. More than 15,800 acres in eastern Henrico have been conserved, representing a $30 million investment.
- Solar array projects are underway at two closed landfills in the county, while the county is working with Dominion Energy to provide free rooftop solar systems for more than 200 low-income Henrico homes. A composting program has taken in more than 3.5 tons of food waste since it started last fall.
- The proposed 2025-26 budget includes $416 million in funding for capital improvements, with $61.5 million directed to school projects. Of that amount, $21 million will fund replacement of Johnson Elementary School and $6 million will support planning, design and offsite improvements for a new Fairfield area elementary school. Henrico voters approved funding for both of those projects in the 2022 bond referendum. Another $6 million is allocated for replacement of school buses, and $9 million in meals tax revenues will support ongoing maintenance projects across the district.
- The capital improvement budget includes $41 million for Public Safety agencies, with $19 million directed to the construction of Firehouse 1 – another bond-funded project approved by voters in the 2022 referendum – and $5.3 million for replacement of Division of Fire vehicles. About $12 million will support construction of an animal adoption center and $3.5 million will replacement of Police Division vehicles.
- More than $27 million will be committed to prioritized road projects and more than $9 million will pay for pedestrian improvements and street lighting. Also, $10 million in bond funding approved by voters will support drainage projects countywide.
- The lion’s share of the capital improvement budget, about $198 million, will support maintenance and expansion of the county’s water and sewer infrastructure, including $50 million to strengthen the network’s resilience and ensure a more reliable and independent water supply for the county.
