After almost a year of back and forth between the Roanoke City Council and Roanoke City Public Schools, the council has voted on a new school funding policy.
This marks the third change to the policy in two years, and the seventh overall amendment to the policy since its original version, put in place in 2011, which said the city would fund the schools with 40% of its annual revenue.
The new policy states that the city will fund RCPS annually, starting at a baseline of what the division received the year before. Then, if the city brings in more tax revenue than budgeted, the division will receive 34% of that excess revenue — or, if the city comes up short on revenue for that year, the schools will return 34% of that shortfall. The next year, the division’s new baseline funding will be equal to its final allocation from the previous year.
The policy also states that money not spent by the schools in the prior fiscal year must be returned to the city. RCPS can then request that the council reappropriate some or all of those unspent dollars for the schools’ use.
The council voted in the new policy on a 4-1 vote, after Terry McGuire and Vivian Sanchez-Jones recused themselves, as both are RCPS employees.
Superintendent Verletta White spoke during the public hearing before the council made the vote, asking that it reconsider the policy change. She said RCPS has been “responsible stewards of taxpayer funds.”
“This proposal will have a devastating impact on education in Roanoke city,” White said. “I hope that we will all be on the right side of history when it comes to supporting our students, parents, teachers and schools.”
Council member Peter Volosin said it’s “incumbent on us to look at the city as a whole.”
“It’s not our goal here to deprive children of an education, but to provide what we can within our means,” he said, adding that the situation the city is in is “hugely unfortunate.”
Council member Evelyn Powers reiterated that the city faces significant financial challenges, and that taxpayers can’t afford raises. Mayor Joe Cobb said he wants to hear from residents if they’d like the council to raise taxes in order to continue prioritizing education. He acknowledged that to the school division, this change feels “abrupt” and that “a longer runway would have been helpful.”
Council member Nick Hagen, who cast the sole “no” vote, said he has concerns about “the long-term viability of the proposed policy.”
“I think we’ll pay for this one way or another,” Hagen said.
Council member Phazhon Nash said Roanoke is on a trajectory similar to other localities in Virginia that are “absolutely in shambles,” and that the council needs to look out for its residents “not just when they’re in the schools, but also when they’re in the streets.”
Funding policy changes over recent years
Historically, Roanoke funded its schools with 40% of its tax revenue annually. The policy has changed several times over the last 15 years:
Starting in 2011, the city gave 40% of its actual revenue to RCPS each year.
In 2024, the city changed the policy to say that RCPS should receive 40% of budgeted revenue each year. If the city made more than what was budgeted, schools received 40% of that excess revenue. If the city brought in less revenue than expected, the schools returned 40% of the difference.
In 2025, in the midst of budget talks and with a longer conversation coming on the school funding policy, the city changed the policy to state that the school division should receive up to 40% of budgeted tax revenue.
This year, RCPS received $106.9 million, which is equal to what it received the previous year. The new policy would go into effect with fiscal year 2026-2027.
The recent changes began in March 2025, when City Manager Valmarie Turner proposed a flat budget for RCPS, meaning the division would receive the same appropriation from the city that it received the year prior, regardless of city revenues. The level budget for schools was approved with the full city budget in May.
Roanoke has historically given its school division more annual funding that the state requires. But during budget conversations in the spring, Cobb said those levels are unsustainable. School advocates have argued that RCPS has unique needs, including a higher number of students learning English, that require more funding.
In a December interview, Kathleen Jackson, chief financial officer with the school division, said, “I shudder to think what our schools would be like if we did the bare minimum of quote, unquote, adequate.”
As is stated in the policy document, the policy is “neither a law nor a contractual agreement.” Rather, it is a statement of intent, and as Cobb reiterated during Tuesday’s meeting, it will be reviewed annually.
In a text message sent during the meeting, school division spokesperson Claire Mitzel said division leaders now will look toward what cuts need to be made “to ensure RCPS can balance its budget.”
Funding reallocated for a short-term fix for overcrowding at the city’s two high schools
The council also reappropriated $4.3 million to RCPS to fund modular classroom spaces, or trailers, at Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools.
As of September 2024, both high schools were at about 120% of capacity, and a feasibility study found that building a new school, or expanding the existing high schools, would be a long and expensive process.
In the meantime, RCPS has been hoping to move quickly to order modular classrooms to temporarily ease the overcrowding.
Jackson said trailers at both schools would add 36 classrooms, with two classrooms per module.
The school division originally asked the city to reappropriate $8.3 million for the trailers. Letters between RCPS officials and Cobb over the last month shed light on the process of funding and installing these trailers.
In December, Jackson said it takes time to handle permitting and zoning, to order the trailers and to set them up. “So we’re already kind of behind the eight ball to get that done if we want them in place and usable before the start of the next school year.”
On Dec. 16, Franny Apel, chair of the school board, sent a letter to the city council, requesting “clarification and an expected timeline” for the funding request. Apel also asked for an update to the funds available for RCPS based on the city’s actual revenue from fiscal year 2024-2025.
The letter said that the school board had approved an appropriation request for the modular classrooms in late October, and that the division’s goal was to have them operational by the first day of the 2026-2027 school year.
In a Jan. 6 letter to Apel and White, Cobb said the council agreed to reappropriate funding of $4.3 million toward first-year costs for the trailers, with the funding coming from available true-up funds from fiscal year 2024-2025, and from the unspent capital fund balance.
In a Jan. 15 response to Cobb’s letter, Apel and White wrote to the council that, “Under the current timeline and approval requirements, summer 2027 represents the earliest projected occupancy, even with expedited review.” This was after the division learned that an amendment to the existing zoning would be required for the proposed modular classrooms.