The Jefferson County Board of Education (BOE) will hold a public hearing on next year’s proposed budget on Tuesday, May 26. The public hearing on the budget will begin at 5:00 pm in the Washington High School auditorium, prior to the regular Board of Education meeting which will begin at 6:00 pm.
Christen Cameron, the CFO for Jefferson County Schools, provided a presentation on the draft budget to the school board members at its May 4 meeting. Cameron divided the budget into four categories, which together add up to $153.6 million:
- $135 million for general operating expenses
- $3.7 million for debt service
- $2 million for capital projects
- $12.6 million for special education and nutrition services
Under the general operating expense category, salaries and benefits account for 75% of the budget ($101.7 million). Student support services (textbooks, classroom supplies and special education out-placement tuition) add up to 6.8% of the budget ($9.2 million). Facilities maintenance and utilities add up to 6.1% of the budget ($8.3 million). The other expense categories are highlighted in the image above (click here to view the complete draft budget document).
The State Determines Funding For Schools
In West Virginia, the state legislature determines the baseline amounts for public school spending through the Public School Support Plan (known informally as the “school aid formula”). The state’s multi-step formula calculates a per-student amount to be funded from the state budget, which it then offsets by 85% of the local taxes collected via the regular school levy (the state legislature also sets that levy rate).
In Jefferson County, the state funding will add up to $69 million for the 2026-2027 school year, with $25.3 million of that coming from the local regular levy collections (that is, that state’s net allowance for Jefferson County will be reduced to $44 million).
Local Funding From Excess Levy
Counties are allowed to supplement the state funding by enacting an “excess levy.” In Jefferson County, voters passed an excess levy referendum in November 2024 to cover the five years beginning on July 1 2026. This excess levy will fund approximately 50% of the Jefferson County Schools operations. In next year’s budget, the excess levy will fund 55 teacher positions, 79 service personnel positions, as well as the CFO and HR director positions in the central office.
In addition to funding specific teaching positions, the excess levy provides funds to supplement the pay scale set by the state for all teachers and service professionals working in the school system. In prior years, Jefferson County Schools disbursed these “levy” payments quarterly. To comply with state regulations, the school system will be changing its accounting for these “levy” disbursements to align the payments with the regular semi-monthly payroll schedule. The total amounts for each pay category appears unchanged between the current FY26 pay tables and the draft FY27 pay tables.
BOE Votes To Review Stipend Policy
During the April 27 meeting there was some confusion — amplified in social media posts — over whether several administrators would be getting significant pay raises because of the change to the accounting for the levy payments. The focus of the discussion was Policy 1520, which includes a schedule of stipends for administration and support staff. The policy ties the stipend amount to the “adjusted base,” but that term is not explicitly defined in the policy.
The current version of the pay tables used the term “Base” to identify the state-set pay amounts, but the draft pay table for FY27 uses the term “WV State basic” to reference those amounts.
The BOE voted to review Policy 1520 at a future meeting.
Snapshots of the Budget
