Charles City School Board proposing $7.3 million operating budget for FY2025-26
Citing continuing needs of the school division along with increasing costs in healthcare coverage, Charles City County Public Schools announced their proposed budget for the FY2025-26 school year.
Charles City Superintendent of Schools Dalphine Joppy recommended an operating budget of $7,359,865 for the upcoming school year. That amount is approximately $565,000, or 8.3 percent, more than the current operating budget of $6,794,865.
The proposed budget includes the addition of three positions in the school system. Those positions, a mental health specialist, a second reading specialist, and a math interventionalist, come with a total price tag of $265,000.
The additional $300,000 ask by the school system includes a three-percent raise for staff (two percent increase plus one percent from a step increase), additional funds to cover healthcare due to costs based on demographics, and additional school needs.
The school is also budgeting $461,567 in its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). CIP funding is used to address one-time needs for facility upgrades and is separate from the operating budget.
The big-ticket item on the CIP is the addition of one new school bus at the cost of $158,000. The other two items are new computers for grades 3-6 as phase two of technology upgrades ($119,000), and the replacing of carpet at the elementary school ($63,567). A grant is expected to be received by the school to address some of the CIP needs. The school will be asking the county for $359,567 in money for the 2025-26 CIP.
The school board is tentatively scheduled to have a joint meeting with the county’s board of supervisors on Feb. 6 at the Charles City Government and Administration Building, with a tentative presentation of their budget to county leaders at the Feb. 25 meeting.