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The Franklin City School Board voted 6-0 on Feb. 27 to approve the $21.9 million fiscal year 2025-26 proposed initial budget for Franklin City Public Schools that was due to the city manager on March 13.

The vote followed a presentation of the budget by FCPS Finance Director Tracy Morrison and a public hearing during which one member of the public spoke.

Morrison opened her presentation by saying, “This proposed budget was designed to align with our Strategic Plan objectives. All of the underlying budget assumptions are subject to change as new information concerning enrollment and state funding becomes available.”

She explained that the school division has three primary funding sources — state, federal and local.

“Franklin City has a low composite index, and that means that the state provides a higher share of funding than the locality toward the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Quality,” she said.

She noted that state funding of $14,353,341 listed in the proposed General Fund budget was based on a conservative average daily membership of 1,067 students, as well as elements of the governor’s December update to this biennium’s budget.

“This $14.3 million is a 5% increase from the current year’s state funding,” she said.

The “Federal Funding” line in the proposed General Fund budget totaled $1,352,300.

“That is simply the estimated new grant funds for the new grant year,” Morrison said.

She said the “Local – City Appropriation – Operating” line that totaled $4,866,590 is the city’s required local match.

“And that is a 12% increase over previous year’s local funding due to the fact that we’ve had a 12% increase in student enrollment over previous years,” she said.

The next line item, “Local – City Appropriation – Capital Projects,” totaled $250,000.

“The local appropriation capital projects will be an ask of the city to establish a Capital Projects Fund in lieu of granting our rollover,” Morrison said. “In 2024, the General Assembly amended the Virginia Code to authorize school boards, with the concurrence of the local governing body, to establish a Capital Reserve Fund to capture local funds that were appropriated to the schools but were unspent during that fiscal year.”

The next line item in the proposed General Fund budget, “Local – Other,” totaled $120,000.

“Lastly, the ‘Local – Other’ line represents all other funding sources, and it’s primarily composed of JROTC receipts,” Morrison said.

The total estimated revenue for the General Fund was $20,942,231.

“Now the incoming revenues I’ve just presented determine the dollar amount available to fund expenditures in our budget,” Morrison said.

 

She explained that each category of expenditures included two lines — one for salaries and benefits and one for “Other,” which she said included purchased services and supplies and materials.

“This proposed initial budget allocates most of the funding to Instruction, and the next largest category would be Operations & Maintenance, which reflects our ongoing commitment to our Capital Improvement Plan,” Morrison said. “The salaries and benefits line items do include a 3% salary increase for all employees effective July 1, ’25.

“There was no increase in health insurance rates, and the lines listed as ‘Other’ are projected based on feedback from each manager for their needs, and all expenditure lines, of course, are limited to fund availability,” she added.

The “Instruction” line item for salaries and benefits totaled $11,911,775, and the “Instruction” line item for “Other” totaled $932,582.

The “Operations & Maintenance” line item for salaries and benefits totaled $1,328,930, and the “Operations & Maintenance” line item for “Other” totaled $1,042,414.

The “Admin” line item for salaries and benefits totaled $1,711,535, and the “Admin” line item for “Other” totaled $585,114.

The school division’s self-sustaining Textbook Fund 9 totaled $165,264, with $121,591 in state funding, $43,658 in local funding and $15 in “Local – Other” funding.

Morrison said the $165,264 will be used for new textbooks as those needs arise, and those funds will be carried over to the following year if they are not expended during the school year.

The school division’s self-sustaining Nutrition – Fund 8 totaled $821,659, with $747,000 in federal funding, $64,000 in “Local – Other” funding and $10,659 in state funding.

“These federal and local funding estimates are based on the anticipated number of meals served,” Morrison said. “And like the Textbook Fund, these funds automatically carry over from year to year.”

She noted that the General Fund, the Textbook Fund and the Nutrition Fund combine for a total budget of $21,929,154.

The board’s vote on the budget did not feature seven votes because Ward 6 Board Member Dr. Peggy R. Scott was not present for the meeting.