Loudoun School Board weighs $14M in new state funds for stipends, safety

The Loudoun County School Board took no vote August 11 on a staff recommendation to recognize an additional $14 million in state revenue in the fiscal year 2027 budget, an information item that will return for formal action at the board’s September 8 meeting. Sharon Willoughby, Chief Financial Officer for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), said the state finalized its budget at the end of June, after the school board adopted its own budget in February, and provided $14 million beyond what had been estimated. ^{3:13:21 3:20:13}

With the amendment, the school operating fund budget would rise from the adopted $2.067 billion to $2.08 billion, changing the increase over FY26 from 5.3% to 6.1%, Willoughby said. The largest allocation, $7 million, would fully implement a tiered staff stipend strategy that had been planned as a phased-in change because of its cost. More detail on that implementation plan will go to the board before the September 8 action. ^3:14:49

The remainder covers $3 million in first-year subscription and operating costs for the ERP Fusion project, $1.8 million to procure panic buttons at schools, $1.5 million for firewall replacements, $500,000 for the state-mandated SAT school day, which Willoughby described as an unfunded mandate, and $120,000 held for other anticipated needs. The three one-time items were already on an internal priority list for a county year-end funding request this fall. ^3:16:11

Willoughby outlined two possible outcomes once the revised budget goes to the County Board of Supervisors. The supervisors could approve it, or they could reduce county funding to LCPS by $14 million while increasing state funding by the same amount, keeping the total budget flat and leaving the division without money for the listed priorities. She said she has seen the county do both in her 11 years with LCPS. She also said the county’s FY27 growth constraint, set at 9%, produced a 7.6% local funding increase for LCPS, and that county staff has said the calculation will change beginning with FY28. ^{3:17:28 3:18:42 3:31:09}

Sumera Rashid (Board member, Little River District) said she was glad the stipend strategy was listed first and asked to see the plan regardless of how it is funded. She questioned the panic button item, and Willoughby said it was in the FY26 budget but could not be procured by the June 30 deadline, so unencumbered funds reverted to the county. Rashid also asked about timing; Willoughby said a final outcome would likely not be known until October and described the reconciliation process the board would use if the funding were reduced. ^{3:21:28 3:22:48 3:24:12 3:26:49}

Jon Pepper (Board member, Dulles District; chair of the Student Services Committee) said he favored one-time uses and warned that the full stipend strategy would commit the division to recurring costs. Willoughby said staff balanced recurring and one-time costs for that reason. Pepper asked what a swap would mean for local funding; Willoughby said the local increase would be 6.6%. Pepper said he found the proposed allocations reasonable. ^{3:29:01 3:30:16 3:32:47 3:34:02}

April Chandler (Chair; Board member, Algonkian District) said she had considered placing the item on the consent agenda but would not, and that it would return as an action item at the next meeting. ^3:34:02