RPS, City Council express interest in collaborating on a future budget formula

As recently as four years ago, City Council and the Richmond School Board met at least quarterly to discuss issues relevant to both groups.

Now, with both sides desiring a change to the longstanding budget process to determine school funding, there is interest in reviving the practice.

“We’ve been trying to get the gang all back together again,” Councilor Stephanie Lynch told The Richmonder.

Lynch (5th District) chairs the Education and Human Services Committee. She admitted that in the past, the city and school division haven’t always made an effort to “work in harmony with one another,” but added that the city’s partnership with the division is more critical now than ever. 

She said that there are plans to get all City Council members, all school board members, Avula and Superintendent Jason Kamras in a meeting later this summer to discuss the funding formula and other important topics in a public meeting. 

“Having that larger meeting is going to be important too, so we can hear everybody's voice,” she said.

Council’s Education and Human Services Committee recommended on Thursday that the full council approve a resolution creating a work group that will develop a “funding formula” that allocates revenue from the city’s general fund to the division’s budget for fiscal year 2027.

The Chief Administrative Officer, recently announced as Odie Donald II, would establish the work group that would develop a plan for implementing the funding formula, and provide a report containing recommendations to Mayor Danny Avula, City Council and the school board. The group would consist of employees from the city’s administration, council’s chief of staff, RPS, two council members and two school board members. 

School Board Vice Chair Matthew Percival (1st District) spoke briefly during public comment for the resolution, saying that the board looks forward to working with the city to “get at the heart of the issue of the budget.”

“We are also in favor of a predictable and economical solution to the budget process,” he said. Percival is also the chair of the school board’s finance and economic committee. 

Under the current system, the school board gives council a funding request, but council ultimately determines the amount of the general budget that will be allotted to the schools. This has produced contentious arguments.

RPS requested $30.8 million in additional funding from the city for the upcoming fiscal year, but the city ultimately provided an additional $9.6 million. 

Switching to a funding formula would allow the division to have a more predictable estimate of how much city funding it will receive. One possibility could be to set school funding at a percentage of the budget, taking negotiation out of the process entirely.

The resolution comes after a tumultuous budget season for both the city and school division, where councilors and school board members expressed frustration with the budget process each institution followed. Recent evaluation responses from school board members highlighted the need to improve and have additional training on the budget process. This similarly echoes concerns from new city council members who also called to reform the budget process. 

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org