Caroline County Public Schools Superintendent Sarah Calveric presented a fiscal year 2026 budget to the board of supervisors Tuesday night that highlighted a projected $2.2 million shortfall in local funding.
On Monday, the school board approved a $67 million operating budget, compared to $63.3 million in the current fiscal year, an increase of $3.7 million.
Calveric and her staff highlighted the reasons for the increases, including an additional $1.6 million going to instruction; $635,479 to administration, attendance and health; $343,015 to transportation; $411,742 to maintenance and $666,329 to technology.
The county’s Local Composite Index, a statewide formula that identifies a locality’s ability to fund its schools and helps determine state funding, decreased by 3.1% since last fiscal year.
“The CCPS budget process is intentional, inclusive, transparent and considers various internal and external factors,” School Board Chair Calvin Taylor said.
Some of those factors include an 18% increase in students with significant disabilities. The school board is seeking six Licensed Practical Nurses — at a cost of $347,509 — who assist with feeding tubes, seizures and other issues.
Calveric and Chief Financial Officer Marcia Stevens said the positions would save the county money because the nurses are currently on staff as outside contractors at a rate of $50 per hour.
“It actually costs significantly less if we can pull them in as our own employees,” Stevens said.
The school division is also looking to invest $384,794 in four case managers to assist the county’s special education teachers, who are mostly novices. Calveric noted that 64% of the special education teachers are provisionally licensed with three years or less of experience and could use assistance with case management and regulatory compliance, while they focus on instruction.
The school board is also pushing for $87,000 to support a mental health counselor. Calveric noted that the county was identified as a “mental health desert” with one counselor per 3,070 people. There were 119 risk and threat assessments in the past year, with 90 at the middle school (90) and 29 at the high school.
School officials said their budget priorities are based on “people over things” and align with the division’s five-year strategic plan called “Achieve 2027.”
Calveric said a salary study yielded positive results as Caroline is now in the “middle of the pack” in teacher compensation among 20 school divisions in its recruitment region. A few years ago, the county was dead last or next-to-last.
Feedback from more than 700 community members and stakeholders suggested that compensation and benefits for teachers and staff and a focus on licensed faculty members remain top priorities for the next fiscal year.
“CCPS is committed to developing and delivering a needs-based operations budget reflective of our school community’s needs,” School Board Vice Chair Lydell Fortune said.
The supervisors listened to the presentation, but did not offer extensive thoughts on the school board’s approved budget. Madison District Supervisor Clay Forehand requested clarification on the LPNs. Bowling Green District Supervisor Jeff Sili wanted to know more about state funding for Standards of Quality positions.
County Administrator Charles Culley will present his recommended budget to the supervisors on March 25. A public hearing on the county’s real estate tax rate and budget is set for April 8.
In other county business, the supervisors voted to join a Rural Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) with King George County, which also approved the committee. The RTAC will begin meeting in July. It was formed because Caroline and King George officials grew concerned that their transportation needs were pushed aside by the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO).
Caroline and King George will remain a part of FAMPO if they choose to, but the RTAC will provide its own recommendations for those two counties to the George Washington Regional Commission and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Sili said that with Caroline and King George on FAMPO, it’s “near impossible” to get projects completed.
“We’re too small to be of importance for the big projects,” Caroline Board of Supervisors Chair Nancy Long said … “Nothing is more frustrating than sitting for a two-hour meeting and not having any input or votes.”
