Wise County school officials have a proposed budget of more than $93.8 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year — roughly $3.92 million more than in the current-year budget.
The school board will hold a public hearing on the spending plan at 5:30 p.m. Monday before its regular meeting at 6 p.m.
The big unknowns are what K-12 school funding will be approved in the next state budget and in Wise County’s budget, according to Superintendent Mike Goforth.
Failing to pass a two-year state budget during the regular 2026 General Assembly session, legislators convened a special session last month, but they walked away without a consensus on a spending plan. The legislature must pass a budget before the fiscal year ends June 30.
Wise County supervisors spent most of last Wednesday poring over details of the draft county budget, but they have yet to finalize the details. When they started detailed budget discussions in March, supervisors had to slash more than $400,000 from current-year spending and figure out how to cut about $5 million from the upcoming budget, following years of depending on reserve funds and the American Rescue Plan Act to make ends meet.
The school division’s budget draft includes a raise for employees based on tentative state budget provisions. The House of Delegates presented a 2% cost-of-living pay hike for public school employees and state workers, while the Senate presented a 3% raise.
School officials do not plan any changes to group health insurance or other employee benefits, according to Goforth.
The budget anticipates that the average daily number of students will be 5,129, according to Goforth. The most recent student count was 5,220, he said.
Based on tentative current numbers, the school division expects state funding of nearly $59.65 million, an increase of nearly $2.26 million. Anticipated federal funding is nearly $8.84 million, a decrease of almost $102,000.
The tentative county funding contribution is about $14.8 million, an increase of more than $678,000, while anticipated local sales tax funding is nearly $6.9 million, an increase of more than $157,000.
Both the anticipated state and local funding amounts could change, depending on the final state budget, Goforth said.
The division expects various other funding that totals $3.67 million, an increase of nearly $931,000. That amount includes a projected $497,000 increase in interest income and a $347,000 increase in school food revenue. However, school meal prices will not change, Goforth said.
The instructional budget is nearly $66.29 million, an increase of nearly $2.49 million. Of that, the biggest single cost is K-12 teachers at $29.7 million, an increase of nearly $673,000.
While there are no planned major changes in programs, Goforth said the state has ceased funding for the “ALL IN Va” intensive tutoring program and for after-school remediation, but Wise County aims to use existing staff and alternative funding to continue those initiatives.
The board will meet at the Education Center, 628 Lake Street NE, Wise.
