School Board Recap

This week, the Powhatan County School Board took a close look at the division's finances during two workshops focused only on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Proposed Operating Budget. On February 4 and 6, staff from various schools and departments met with the Board to review their line-item budgets and address any questions regarding current or proposed costs. This is an important step in the months-long journey to plan for the FY 2025-2026 school year.

If you want to start getting a handle on the proposed budget, you can review Finance Director Debbie Halloway's initial budget presentation on January 14. Here is the link to the Jan. 14 video, with Ms. Halloway's presentation beginning at the 15-minute mark. She will give a second presentation at the February 11 regular meeting and will continue to update the budget as more information is released from the State and both the School Board and Board of Supervisors work together to shape next year's budget.

This newsletter will not dive into the minutiae of every line-item discussed, but it will give the highlights of the budgets reviewed and significant changes that are proposed. The goal of this newsletter is to help people who don't have hours to attend or watch board meetings still stay abreast of what is going on in our school division. You are invited to go back and watch the full budget workshop videos on the PCPS YouTube channel: February 4 workshop link and February 6 workshop link. For the complete agendas and all materials shown in the videos, go to the School Board page, click on BoardDocs, and select the meeting you want.

The following budget sections were discussed during the Feb. 4 workshop: Elementary Schools, Administration, School Board, Superintendent, Human Resources, Finance, Transportation, Operation and Maintenance, Facilities, and Communications. Here are some of the highlights discussed:

• The Elementary Schools requested level funding but did ask the School Board to consider additional color copiers instead of black-and-white copiers spread throughout the buildings. Dr. Samantha Martin, Pocahontas Elementary Principal, said they did receive additional requests but were able to meet most of those within existing budget allotments.
• Terri Allison, Director of Human Resources, said there was a significant drop in the Human Resources budget because some purchased services, such as background checks and fingerprinting of substitute teachers, are now being covered by the contractor providing subs, ESS. Although the overall budget has decreased, Ms. Allison and Ms. Halloway did request that PCPS hire a benefits specialist who would alleviate the workload in both Finance and HR as well as fulfilling specialized duties that won't be covered when Ms. Allison retires later this year. Ms. Allison also renewed two requests she has made in previous budget seasons - to eliminate the licensure renewal fee for teachers and to waive tuition for children of out-of-county employees to attend PCPS. Both would be added incentives in the division's recruitment and retention efforts.
• When discussing the Finance budget, Ms. Halloway briefly touched on the Keystone implementation, which she said has had a few technical difficulties but is overall going very well. She added that some of the changes in her budget are reorganizing funds so they are reflected under the correct line items, such as moving auditing funds out of individual schools and all into the Finance budget, which facilitates audits. Throughout both workshops, she would continue to point out where items have shifted budget codes in her efforts to make the budget more accurate and transparent for reporting purposes with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
• A few topics were discussed under the School Board and Superintendent budgets. The proposed amount for legal services is $140,000, but it was noted that this number is not for the entire division as some of those legal services fall under the Special Education budget. Vicki Hurt, District 1, and Michele Ward, District 5, both talked about the training required for School Board members currently covered by VSBA. Both board members asked the board to consider membership and training options with the School Board Member Alliance of Virginia (SBMA). No decision was made at the meeting.
• Although a few line items in the Transportation budget saw increases, the overall proposed budget saw a roughly $40,000 decrease from the FY25 adopted budget. A few of the items that Transportation Director George Albert highlighted include: an increase in parent transportation costs to private day because the division doesn't have enough drivers; an increase for vehicle parts and supplies; and vehicle replacement of part of the high-mileage van fleet. Mr. Albert talked about the need for specialized tablets that would be used specifically for navigation. He said it would cost about $42,000 to install the system in 110 buses and then would cost about $8,000 annually for the software. The board also asked for an analysis of the cost of electricity used by the division's EV vehicles versus the fuel for the diesel buses they replaced.
• Facilities Director Bob Benway led the discussion of the Operation and Maintenance and Facilities budgets, which has a significant proposed increase due to increases in almost every line item. Some of the highlights include: converting two facilities apprentices from 10-month to 12-month employees to reflect and reward the work they already do; increases in maintenance and repair services and supplies, maintenance contracts, electrical services, heating fuel, water services, insurance premiums, and HVAC supplies. A change in vendor has led to a significant increase in the cost of landscaping services. The board also had a discussion with Mr. Benway about a current issue in the schools of students flushing vaping devices down toilets, which has cost PCPS thousands in damage and labor costs.
• Communications Liaison Laura McFarland covered the Communications budget, which saw increases in a few line items to reflect actual costs now that she has completed a full year in the position. However, the overall budget is down about $4,000.

The only action item voted on during the two workshops was a unanimous vote to pass the FY 2026 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and the 10-Year CIP for FY 2026-2035. The link to both CIP presentations is here. While the board approved both plans, the discussion focused specifically on the immediate needs for FY 2026, which were outlined by Mr. Benway. The total cost for the projects in next year's CIP is $17,605,803. However, Ms. Halloway pointed out that $6,141,000 has already been funded, so the additional needed funds are $11,464,803.

The budget presentations give full descriptions of the projects proposed for next year, which are spread across the entire school division. Two of the largest projects -- $900,000 for the demolition of Pocahontas Landmark Center's (PLC) B, C, and D wings and Pocahontas Elementary HVAC system replacements -- have already been funded through recent borrowing. The $6.15 million Powhatan High School roof replacement will be required in the summer of 2026 as it is approaching its design life and is starting to require frequent repairs. Only two of the three PHS central water heaters are operational and frequently down for repairs. Flat Rock Elementary and Pocahontas Elementary schools need new PA/Bell System Controllers, as spare parts are no longer available. Classrooms at Powhatan Elementary and Pocahontas Elementary schools need new furniture and new casework for the sinks and cubbies, and the bathrooms need refurbishment. The Pocahontas Landmark Center’s A-wing needs a new HVAC system and supporting boiler and chiller. Many PCPS parking lots need to be repaired and sealed and, in several cases, resurfaced. This plan also includes replacement buses.

The following budget sections were discussed during the Feb. 6 workshop: Special Education, Health, Student services, Powhatan Middle School, Powhatan High School, Instruction, Instructional Technology, and Technology.

• PCPS is currently serving 604 students under the Special Education budget, which is 14 fewer students than last year. However, Dr. Lynn Clayton-Prince, Director of Special Education, noted that the division is noticing the number of students needing special services is increasing and identifications are occurring earlier - as young as kindergarten. The division has 28 students in Private Day funded by CSA, but PCPS is responsible for transportation costs. Dr. Prince highlighted increases to purchased services, local travel costs, and staff training. Dr. Prince and the School Board also discussed the legal services line item, which is still high at $275,000 but is level funding from the FY 2025 Adopted Budget and significantly lower than the FY 2024 Actual of $407,269. Two additional changes include increasing a SPED Assistive Technology Teacher from 10 months to 11 months and adding a psychologist intern program. Board members were especially supportive of the intern program, even suggesting increasing from one to two psychologist interns if the budget allows.
• Despite this being her first week in her new role as Director of Student Services and Interventions, Katie Matheny was on the ball in her presentation of the Health and Student Services budgets. Line item budget changes include increases in instructional materials as well as materials and supplies for new positions. Students Services saw the most changes related to staffing increases. These include 1.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) counselor positions, a clinic assistant at Powhatan High School, and a student services program manager.
• The largest change under Student Services would be the implementation of a K-12 Alternative Education Program designed to provide specialized support for students exhibiting behavioral changes. The program would be housed at each school within the district and feature a team consisting of one teacher and one instructional assistant per school. The program aims to promote positive social skills and restorative practices to address behavior challenges and improve student success. The program would necessitate hiring three additional alternative education teachers and five instructional assistants, purchasing curriculum materials, and other costs. The board expressed concerns about the program being used to house students with lesser behavioral issues, but Ms. Matheny explained that students would go through a number of layers of behavior intervention before the alternative education program, which may be a viable alternative to some students' long-term suspensions, is assigned.
• Ms. Matheny also highlighted SmartPass, a new digital hall pass system the division wants to implement at PMS and PHS to help prevent behavioral issues such as vaping, wandering the halls, and vandalizing bathrooms.
• Principal Colin Innes spoke to the board about the Powhatan Middle School budget, highlighting a few items for the proposed budget. The athletic services line item bumped up by $11,605 in line with the board's support of starting a girls middle school soccer team. PMS is also asking for an increase in the travel and conference budget line item to allow teachers to attend conferences for professional development purposes. Other small increases include more money for instructional furniture, a projector screen in the gym, and instructional supplies for SPED instruction.
• Principal Chris Sumner pointed out that this was the third year he and his staff have not sought to increase the Powhatan High School Budget, instead focusing on strategic reallocations. A few items he highlighted include increasing funds for the firefighting classes to do the controlled burn exercise and the allocation for materials in the vocational classes to adjust for inflation.
• As part of this budget cycle, Dr. Angela Stewart, Chief Academic Officer, explained that the instruction specialists were asked to do a deep dive into the Instruction budget to identify their specific needs. This led to greater transparency of the division of funds across the core subjects of math, social studies, language arts, and science. She highlighted increases in tuition costs per students to the regional programs -- CodeRVA, Appomattox Regional Governor's School, and Maggie L. Walker Governor's School. She also highlighted increases for professional development, contracted services for English Language Learners for translations, math textbooks and instructional materials, science materials and curriculum writing funds, language arts curriculum writing, and middle school intervention programs. There was a good amount of discussion about support for more textbooks and manipulatives over technology usage. Dr. Stewart shared that the new HMH reading program adopted this school year has been seeing good results in roughly three months of intervention efforts, seeing the positive growth of students moving from high risk to moderate, from moderate to low risk, or not needing intervention at all.
• The main line item in the Instructional Technology budget is for classroom instruction technology software, which did see a significant increase. A large portion of that budget covers the administrative tools staff members use to access all of their technology tools, family communication tools, data analysis components, the student information system, and the learning management system.
• The Technology budget reviewed by Scott Mecca, Director of Information Technology, was focused not only on a specific dollar amount for next year's budget but on the overall deficiencies in the school division's cybersecurity measures and proper device use and replacement planning. Mr. Mecca emphasized the critical importance of planning for infrastructure needs to support cybersecurity efforts and the large and small practices that could make the school system vulnerable. He talked about an experience many school divisions across the nation face, the "COVID cliff," referring to school systems investing in large quantities of devices to handle virtual learning but not implementing a balanced replacement schedule. Now, many devices are near their regular end of life with insufficient plans for a replacement cycle. Although the overall Technology budget amount decreased, it still saw increases in the areas of new devices for students and staff being purchased and cybersecurity infrastructure.
• There was a good amount of discussion on whether students need to be taking home devices or if the school system might be better off down the road adopting a bring-your-own-device practice, which was met with some reluctance. One of the major issues with devices right now is the out-of-warranty repairs. Mr. Mecca said from July 1, 2024, to date, those repairs had cost the school division about $44,000, with almost all of the damage occurring on middle school devices.
• Toward the conclusion of the extensive discussion on the Technology budget, Mr. Mecca emphasized the need for future conversations about how the division plans to manage end-user devices. He noted that these discussions should involve input from instruction and other relevant areas, likely in the form of a committee focused on this and other issues.

Looking for a rewarding career in education? Join us at our Career and Pathway to Licensure Expo on March 1, 2025, at Flat Rock Elementary School!
At PCPS, we pride ourselves on being a close-knit, small community where you can truly make a difference! Whether you're a veteran educator, starting your career, or seeking licensure opportunities, we're here to help you take the next step!
Don’t miss this chance to be part of a community where education comes to life!
Use the QR code to register or visit our website to register.

Do you know a Powhatan County Public Schools employee who is Inspiring, Empowering, or Innovating? We want to hear from you. Tell us about any staff member who is making a difference in the lives of our children by inspiring, empowering, or innovating. Click here to tell us about a Powhatan Schools staff member who deserves to be recognized. We welcome suggestions from students, families, co-workers or community members.

For your convenience, we will continue to include the contact information for all of the Board of Supervisors and School Board members, because they regularly say they want to hear from their constituents.

Board of Supervisors

* William (Bill) Donati Jr.

District 1 Representative

Email: bdonati@powhatanva.gov

Phone: 804-898-1701

* Steve W. McClung (2024 Board Chair)

District 2 Representative

Email: smcclung@powhatanva.gov

Phone: 804-892-4268

* Robert (Bob) Powers

District 3 Representative

Email: rpowers@powhatanva.gov

Phone: 804-898-1973

* Mark Kinney

District 4 Representative

Email: mkinney@powhatanva.gov

Phone: 804-898-0449

* Denise Morrissette (2024 Vice Chair)

District 5 Representative

Email: dmorrissette@powhatanva.gov

Phone: 804-898-0387

School Board

* Vicki Hurt

District 1 representative

Phone: 804-869-8920

Email: vicki.hurt@powhatan.k12.va.us

* Susan Smith (Chair)

District 2 representative

Email: susan.smith@powhatan.k12.va.us

Phone: 804-598-4943

* Jeanne Wade (Vice Chair)

District 3 representative

Email: jeanne.wade@powhatan.k12.va.us

Phone: 804-718-1067

* James Taylor

District 4 representative

Email: jtaylor@powhatan.k12.va.us

Phone: 804-727-9175

* Michele Ward

District 5 representative

Email: michele.ward@powhatan.k12.va.us

Phone: 804-894-7848

Powhatan County Public Schools highly recommends that staff and families with smartphones download the free PCPS app and enable notifications. When alerts such as notice of school delays or closings are sent out, the notifications through the app appear to be one of the fastest means of receiving the information. You can sign up for notifications sent to the entire school division as well as only your school; see the news feed that mirrors much of what goes on our social media accounts if you don't use Instagram or Facebook; and find division and school calendar listings.