Welcome to Roanoke Valley Field Notes, a collection of news and miscellaneous notes from the past week in the valley and a look ahead at what’s happening next week. Here’s my last edition if you missed it.
The hallways of Roanoke City’s schools are full and bustling with students again with the start of the school year. School officials said during a board meeting Tuesday night that even with extensive cuts already made, the division could still face budget issues this year.
As always, email me at samantha@cardinalnews.org to share your thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns.
Roanoke schools may not be beyond budget issues
Roanoke City Public Schools officials are already planning for potential budget shortfalls this school year.
The school division expects to receive more than $200,000 less in state funding than it initially anticipated, Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Jackson told school board members during their Aug. 11 meeting.
The division’s adopted budget estimated it would receive $139,271,351 in state funding and another $20,955,216 through state sales tax revenue for a total of $160,226,567.
But the final state budget for fiscal year 2027 adopted just before the start of the fiscal year, on June 29, shows the school division will receive $160,018,583.
Jackson said that the school division did use “the more conservative of the two general Assembly proposals that were known at the time” during its budget process.
“In the grand scheme of our budget that’s fairly close. That is not a concerning variance,” Jackson said.
The division will monitor enrollment projections, which could change between now and when the school system’s funding is officially determined for the coming year, she said.
How much funding the state provides individual school divisions is based on enrollment. Final funding is allocated based on the count as of March 31.
Jackson said if the count is more significantly off as of Sept. 30, the division board members could expect some budget changes on their agenda in September.
Based on last year’s revenue predictions, Jackson also told board members that the beginnings of a financial audit show a forecasted revenue shortfall of $6.7 million overall in the coming year, but expenditures will likely be about $6.1 million below budget as well.
“Based on our experience through June, we are forecast to potentially be about $600,000 over revenue if we end the year based on that experience with the information we had as of June 30,” she said.
This could require school board members to make changes mid-fiscal year to budget allocations or pull from its savings.
This comes after significant cuts due to a $14 million funding gap in this year’s budget, partially due to changes to the policy that dictates how the city funds its schools.
In order to balance out that deficit, the school division made the following cuts when it approved its budget in June: $11 million in personnel cuts, which amounted to about 160 positions; and $3 million in operational cuts, mainly through a reduction of the PLATO Elementary Gifted Program, a reduction in the division’s three-year-old Virginia Preschool Initiative classes, and by making activity buses only available during the spring.
Burcham returns to city service
At the Aug. 3 Roanoke City Council meeting, former city manager Darlene Burcham was appointed to the city’s finance board to serve as a “citizen-at-large.”
“I am pleased to serve the city again and hope that my previous experience and knowledge in municipal finance will be beneficial in this new role,” Burcham said in an email Wednesday.
Burcham was the city manager in Roanoke from 2000 to 2010 and later the town manager in Clifton Forge and Pulaski before retirement.
Other members of the city’s finance board — which helps oversee such municipal operations — include: Tasha Burkett, city treasurer; Acquenatta Harris, finance director ex officio; and City Attorney Laura Carini, who serves as another “citizen-at-large” on the board.
Roanoke County Police seek feedback for accreditation
The Roanoke County Police Department is seeking feedback on the delivery of services, community engagement, and other comments as a part of the process to receive accreditation.
CALEA is the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The county’s police department has maintained accreditation by CALEA since 1992, according to a county press release.
“The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence,” the CALEA webpage states.
The press release notes that CALEA should not be used to send tips for the county’s police to investigate.
The public comment portal can be reached here.
Meetings next week:
The Roanoke City Council will meet at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday for its regularly scheduled meeting and public hearing. The agenda for those meetings can be found here.
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday. That agenda will be posted here.
Cardinal News education reporter Meghan Mangrum contributed to this column.
