School board members in Bedford County have rejected a proposal to close an elementary school, but warned that the division will face tough decisions in coming years to manage an anticipated dropoff in state funding.
The four efficiency options that the board considered to save money — all of which included closing the 112-year-old Stewartsville Elementary School in Goodview — were declined by all six board members present at a budget work session Thursday evening. Board member Matthew Holbrook was absent.
“One of the things that has made me most uncomfortable about any of the options is the haste that seemed to be part of it,” said board member Kurt Hubach.
Last month, the school board asked division staff for options to address a $3 million deficit. All four options presented included closing Stewartsville Elementary School, which needs significant repairs and is only operating at half its student capacity. Meanwhile, other schools in the division are reaching capacity due to lopsided population growth across the county.
The division is also trying to anticipate a fiscal cliff in the 2028-2029 school year, when state funding will drop due to the city of Bedford’s 2013 reversion to town status. When a 15-year grace period expires, the school division will lose its advantageous state funding calculation.
The school board hosted several town hall meetings to solicit feedback from the community, using dates originally scheduled to seek opinions on the school division’s next superintendent. Marc Bergin, who took the position in 2021, will leave at the end of this fiscal year.
The school board will hold a final budget work session on March 25, after which it will present its budget to the board of supervisors.
Randy Hagler, the assistant superintendent of finance and operations, advised the school board to ask the board of supervisors for $500,000 for the division’s maintenance reserves, and to work under the assumption that state funding will take care of the deficit once Gov. Glenn Youngkin signs off on the state budget.
Board chair Marcus Hill thanked staff for presenting options to save money at the request of the board finance committee. But he warned that discussions about the division’s constrained finances and ways to manage it will continue.
“While we’re all in agreement that the options that were presented do not fit our needs, we have more discussion to do,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, we don’t have the funds to maintain our facilities. We don’t have the funds to add additional programs.”
He pledged to continue to offer town hall events for residents to speak with board members.