Rappahannock County School Board Meeting, Jan. 14, 2025
Click the video above to watch Tuesday evening’s Rappahannock County School Board meeting.
Wanted: public input on funding priorities
Rappahannock County Schools Superintendent Shannon Grimsley presented preliminary state budget projections for the 2026 fiscal year to the School Board on Tuesday, and gave an update on lobbying efforts in Richmond for more state aid.
Based on the governor’s “very, very preliminary” proposed budget, Grimsley said the school system will receive about $172,000 more than it did in last year’s state budget.
Grimsley noted that the budget is likely to change several times before it is cemented, and said this is “the very first step in that long haul until June” preparing next year’s budget.
Grant funding for the district is also projected to increase drastically next year, jumping from $450,000 to $893,000, according to Grimsley’s report.
Lobbying second phase underway
As for a permanent increase in state aid, Grimsley said phase two of lobbying efforts in the state legislature have started, and “things are looking promising.”
“So when we win, we’re gonna have a party,” chair Wes Mills said. “We’ve never been this close to winning.”
Board member and Headwaters Foundation representative Rachel Bynum said that as of Monday over $23,000 of the $30,000 needed to pay for lobbyist Elizabeth Parker’s work this legislative session has been raised. Grimsley said the Board of Supervisors will consider if it’s willing to commit the additional $7,000 at its February meeting. She said Parker was content with payment in installments.
Stephanie Ridder, chair of the Headwaters Foundation, spoke during public comment, asking if the organization should continue to approach major donors and ask for additional donations, or if the district “has a plan” or knows how willing the county is to pitch in the remaining balance.
Grimsley said Ridder could “absolutely” continue to seek donations. Vice chair Larry Grove said the county has indicated that they “are willing to look at this.”
Parker will let Grimsley and the board know of any opportunities for them to participate in conversations and meetings in Richmond as the process moves along, Grimsley said. She and County Administrator Garrey Curry will go to Richmond Thursday to meet a staffer on the Senate Finance Committee.
Grimsley said the Joint Elementary and Secondary Pre-K-12 Funding Committee — whose meeting school and county officials attended in December — were impressed by the public comments they received ahead of the meeting, over half of which came from Rappahannock residents and stakeholders.
“Thank you to everyone who was able to submit a public comment,” Grimsley said. “It really did grab the attention of that committee.”
The district will not know if Parker is successful in securing an additional $1.5 million from the state until late in the budgeting process, and Grimsley said this year will look similar to last year, with uncertainty on the amount of state funding that will come through. She said although their efforts look promising, the district needs to factor in that uncertainty when constructing the budget.
“That’ll be something we have to consider is, how sure are we at this point? Should we plan on that [funding], or are we building two budgets again,” Grimsley said. “It makes it tough, because it’s such a huge difference … If this million and a half does come through, what’s that going to look like? How are we going to prioritize those funds?”
Public budget input
Betsy Dietel
Betsy Dietel addresses Tuesday’s school board meeting.
The school district is seeking feedback from the community on budget priorities, and deployed a survey earlier this month. During public comment, resident Betsy Dietel asked the board where the survey was released, and if it is open for submissions from all community members, not just families with children in the schools.
Communications and engagement specialist Holly Jenkins said the survey was sent to families and also published on the district’s social media and web pages. She said they will continue to promote the survey until the deadline for submissions, Jan. 31.
“I would love to spread the word about that. It’s something that I remember filing my comments for in the past,” Dietel said.
The survey can be found at: rappnews.link/tpv.
