The Buena Vista School Board on Monday of last week unanimously approved its draft budget for fiscal year 2026, requesting a $150,000 increase in local funding from the city. That would bring the city’s total school contribution to $2.55 million — still nearly $300,000 less than what it allocated to the schools 15 years ago, school officials pointed out.
The budget, which totals just over $15.2 million, is built around an enrollment of 810 students and includes a 3% salary increase for all staff. But key items — like higher raises and a part-time attendance specialist — remain unfunded unless additional support comes through from either the state or city.
Superintendent Tony Francis emphasized that two factors will determine whether cuts will be necessary: whether Buena Vista’s City Council approves the $150,000 increase, and whether the General Assembly and Gov. Glenn Youngkin can resolve their standoff over lifting the state’s cap on support staff funding. That cap, imposed during the Great Recession, has long limited how much aid small divisions like Buena Vista receive for nonteaching staff positions. The legislature voted to remove the cap this session, but Youngkin has pushed back.
“If the support staff cap is lifted, it could mean around $137,000 for us,” Francis said in a follow-up interview Thursday. “Combined with the city’s potential increase, that could allow us to avoid cuts and fund some critical needs.”
But the larger question looming over the meeting wasn’t just whether the budget would balance — it was why Buena Vista, a city that once provided more to its schools, continues to fund them at a level well below the norm.
Francis noted that while most school divisions receive 20% or more of their locality’s general budget, Buena Vista’s schools receive about 15% — a lower-than-average share from a city whose total budget hovers around $15 million.
“That’s not a trend you usually see,” Francis told the Board. “Most divisions don’t get less over time.”
Board member Paula Charlton put it more bluntly: “Is it perceived among locals that the city values its schools? Because if that’s not apparent, it can really hurt a locality.”
Charlton and others noted that the schools have long been a stabilizing force in Buena Vista, especially during times of crisis — from natural disasters to economic downturns. “The one thing that kept this community going,” she said, “was the school division. It held us together.”
Despite financial limitations, Buena Vista schools have seen a steady rise in academic rankings. The division currently stands 38th out of 131 in the state, according to Francis.
“You either get better or you get worse,” he said. “Do we want to get better? Do we want to get worse?”
The draft budget now awaits final approval from City Council. In the meantime, the school division — like so many across the commonwealth — remains in limbo, as political wrangling in Richmond continues to delay a final state budget.
