Roanoke City School Board considers using rainy day fund to help with budget shortfall
The schools are looking to make up nearly $7 million of their budget after the city announced plans to give them the same funds as last year.
'This is not a good fiscal use of funds,' said board chair Dr. Eli Jamison at the school board workshop Tuesday. 'This is not what we would've done if we had more than a month to prepare.'
She said she was furious about the situation.
'Never in eight years have we put recurring costs on the fund balance use. It is what defines us as fiscal stewards,' she said.
Other school board members noted the financial team has worked overtime to come up with a solution.
The district is looking at three routes for its budget. The funding they want from the city, level funding and a budget shortfall, or level funding plus the rainy day fund.
RCPS's chief financial officer explained potential cuts, even with the rainy day fund, like eliminating seven student support specialists and repurposing elementary Spanish teachers to teach English Learning.
RCPS considering possible solutions to high school overcrowding
The rainy day fund, or fund balance, is left over money that's been built up at the end of every fiscal year. Right now, there's about $28 million, roughly half of which has to be kept in a reserve. The schools want to use the nearly $13 million remaining to cover its shortfall this year.
At Monday night's public hearing in front of City Council, Jamison brought up rumors the city was looking to reclaim the fund balance. Tuesday, several board members echoed concerns saying they hoped it was only a rumor.
Mayor Joe Cobb was at Tuesday's school board meeting in addition to councilmember Nick Hagen. WFXR asked Mayor Cobb for a response to the hearsay about the city reappropriating the rainy day fund. He responded 'I have no comment at this time.'
The city is faced with a difficult budget of its own. It plans to cut the planned overtime pay increase and won't fund additional requests from social services.
The city plans to finalize its budget in May. The school board needs to adopt its final budget in June.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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