ACPS funding request includes money for SRO, security assistants

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has received a funding request from the county school division, including requests for money for security assistants and a School Resource Officer.
Albemarle County School Board Chair Katrina Callsen and board member Kate Acuff presented the 2023-24 request on Monday.
According to a release, the request for more than $257.3 million is an increase of about $10.9 million over the 2022-23 request.
The county School Board approved the funding request last week.
The release says it is structured to meet the school division’s strategic plan’s three goals of thriving students, affirming and empowering communities, and equitable and transformative resources.
The request includes investments in safety enhancements, reading and intervention specialists, staffing, and compensation as well as security assistants at each of the county’s secondary schools.
The release also says other funding priorities will include a learning recovery fund to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, expansion of summer school opportunities, an increase in support services for special education and English learners, funding for an SRO, investments in student mental health resources, and academies aligned with the needs of various career fields.
ACPS projects enrollment in its K-12 schools will increase by 136 students in 2023-24. Adding in anticipated pre-K student enrollment projections means the division expects its total enrollment to surpass 14,000 students.
The release says the funding request includes an overall increase of $15 million in local revenue, which is an 8.8 percent increase over the current fiscal year. It also includes $4.6 million in additional state funding, up 6.9 percent.
ACPS says nearly three-fourths of its budget next year will come from local revenue sources and about 28 percent will be supported by state revenues.
For more information on the budget process, click here.