The Richmond School Board unanimously approved a revised fiscal year 2026 budget increase of $30.8 million over the previous year at Tuesday’s meeting, following weeks of deliberation and public input.

The administration crafted the approximately $546.8 million operating budget around the district’s five Dreams4RPS priorities: academics, talent, wellness, engagement and operations. Talent will receive the highest budget investment at just over $17 million due to collective bargaining agreements.

“Two days ago, I was prepared to vote no this evening, but I believe in the work that we’re going to do,” board member Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th Distrtict, said after the vote. “I’m going to trust the process.”

She continued: “We have many needs in the area of literacy, which impacts every facet of instruction for our students. If we get additional funding or not, we’re going to have to be courageous about the cuts that we’re going to have to make.”

The district originally was set to ask for a $43.7 million increase in spending. Superintendent Jason Kamras noted from the start of the budget process that hard choices were coming for the district as funding from the state and city are expected to decrease.

During a School Board work session last week, representatives asked Kamras to reduce the request for additional funding to $30 million.

The newly approved budget retains its focus on multilingual learners with a $5.5 million investment planned to improve student-teacher ratios. The district also plans to expand its student mentorship program — which helped increase graduation rates last year for English learners.

“I just want to say thank you to the board for a truly collaborative effort and look forward to continuing our advocacy for every last dollar for our students — which I think we can all agree … they certainly deserve,” Kamras said.

About $4.8 million will go toward maintaining relationships with existing in-school mental health partners — a response to growing concerns over student well-being — as well as increasing the salary of RPS care and safety staff to compete with neighboring districts. 

In addition to academics, the district will meet its obligation of a 3% increase in pay for RPS teachers, bringing the average salary to more than $73,000 — just over a 40% increase during the past eight years.

A contested $4 million proposed reduction in the budget, which would have left district employees to cover 50% of their health care premium costs, was eliminated.

Melody Winters, who serves on the board of the Richmond Education Association, thanked the panel for removing that language from the budget.

“[This] honors the real life struggle that many RPS workers deal with to pay their bills and make ends meet. We cannot afford any new expenses,” Winters said.

The board also approved its Capital Improvement Plan budget for FY26, which covers major facility investments. These projects are included in the City’s capital budget.

The proposed CIP budget increased from $13.6 million during January negotiations to the approved $14.8 million — due to a change in HVAC needs. In the newly adopted budget, Martin Luther King Jr. Preschool is listed as needing an HVAC replacement system that’s estimated to cost $1.2 million.

The RPS budget will now head to Mayor Danny Avula’s desk for consideration. The mayor will then incorporate the schools’ request — in part or in full — in his budget submission to City Council.