RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras presented his budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 to the Richmond City School Board at a meeting on Monday, Jan. 22. Here’s an overview of the timeline and what to expect from FY25.
🗓 Budget season 101
Basically, it goes: Superintendent ➡️ School Board ➡️ Mayor ➡️ City Council ➡️ School Board
Budget season begins in January with the superintendent’s proposal. The school board considers the proposal and, if approved, sends it to the mayor in February.
The RPS budget is then incorporated into the mayor’s city budget proposal and presented to City Council around March. After holding hearings and considering changes, City Council should vote to approve the budget in May.
If the city budget ends up with more or less RPS funding than originally proposed, the superintendent goes back to the board with proposed changes. If there are no changes, the school board adopts the final RPS budget.
💸 In store for FY25
FY25 starts July 1 and goes through June 30, 2025. Superintendent Kamras’ proposal includes an Operating Budget and a Capital Improvement Plan Budget.
The Operating Budget covers day-to-day costs of running RPS and is approximately $516.4 million. The proposal asks for $246.5 million from the city — $25 million more than last year — and most of the rest from the state.
The proposal highlights changes to the budget in five priorities. Here’s how much funding is proposed for each, plus a few included priorities.
- Academics | $5.9 million | Expanding RPS200 pilot and shifting funding for education services
- Talent | $18.9 million | Raises for staff
- Wellness | $3.2 million | New staff including school counselors and support specialists, and supplies
- Engagement | $215,000 | Attendance incentives and hiring two additional bilingual family liaisons
- Operations | $8 million | Hiring facilities personnel and adding funding for repair and maintenance contracts
Meanwhile, the Capital Improvement Plan Budget is for major facility investments. The CIP budget totals around $16.2 million for FY25. It includes improving athletics facilities, fire alarms, HVAC systems, and roofs at numerous schools.
Get into the numbers by reading the full proposal or viewing the superintendent’s presentation via BoardDocs.
