Richmond Public Schools has a chance to receive unused funds from private schools teaching Richmond-zoned low-income students if the schools don’t spend it by the end of this school year, a school official told the Richmond School Board during its meeting last week.

School division administrators have identified over $200,000 in funding allocated for eligible private school students who need additional academic support. The Virginia Department of Education said the unspent money was taken out of RPS’ Title I federal allocation during the 2024-2025 school year.

Those services are federally mandated to ensure that low-income private school students are receiving the same supplemental educational support as their Richmond public school peers. That support varies from tutoring to instructional supplies and technology provided by RPS, said Shannon McCall, the division’s director of grants management and compliance. 

The announcement – which came as a surprise to some Board members – is part of the federal government’s efforts to shrink the Department of Education and return education decisions to states. 

The equitable services funds are now executed and monitored by the state and school division.

“These are children that would normally be RPS kids. And they are at the private schools, so that money follows the child,” McCall said. She was requesting the Board’s approval for the allocation of funds.  

After the state informed the division, RPS conducted assessments with the 18 private schools teaching eligible students, McCall said, and all parties worked to identify how much the supplemental services cost for each eligible student at each school. All but one agreed to participate in receiving the funds — two other schools she has not heard back from. 

Vice Chair Matthew Percival (1st District) said the issue highlights a larger funding problem tied to enrollment losses.

Because Virginia’s school funding formula is primarily based on the division’s enrollment, he noted that the division is theoretically missing out on “over $4 million” from the state when RPS students elect to go to private schools. 

“I am a huge advocate for support following students when they have other opportunities. But what I get tired of is King Solomon telling us to split the baby every time we run into an issue,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of money that evaporates into thin air that nobody has access to based on the students moving out of the system.”

Board member Cheryl Burke (7th District) said she was surprised that it is now on the division to collect, track and administer supplement the funds. 

Without directly naming the school, she alluded to the Anna Julia Cooper School, a private middle school in her district near Creighton Court which is allocated more than $55,000 to support Richmond-zoned low-income students with academic needs. 

“I assumed that those private schools had special funding to be able to cover the cost of students attending, but instead we are covering a portion of that based upon special needs,” said Burke.

McCall clarified that the funding in question is supplemental. Because it is Title I funding, students at the private schools are entitled to that money. 

The private schools, which may not be solely in Richmond City, now have one last chance to spend the money themselves by June this year. 

“If they do not spend them all, we get to take them,” McCall said. “It’s good, but it’s not guaranteed.”

The Board later voted to approve the allocation of funds as part of its consent agenda.

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