ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke City Public Schools has approved the budget for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.
The approval comes after months of discussion and difficult cuts made to different programs.
School officials had a deficit of nearly $14 million dollars to make up for.
“Really the number that the schools have been focusing on is how to account for the $14 million discrepancy between revenues and expenditures to meet the needs of our students,” Roanoke City Public Schools Board Chairwoman Franny Apel.
Much of the budget balancing came from cuts made to programs such as after-school bussing and gifted student services.
160 positions across the district were cut as well.
“There is over a 9% reduction in central office positions and 6% reduction in school-based staff positions in order to meet the budget,” Apel said.
However, there are still uncertainties regarding the state senate, which could cause the district to make adjustments.
“Once all that is reconciled and where those monies are allocated, you know, if it has something to do with standards of quality or ratios of positions or if there’s monies tied to certain things, that will determine how we then might have to amend our budget as a board moving forward,” Apel said.