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This was a difficult budget season, for both Buckingham school board members and supervisors. The schools had to make cuts in order to balance the budget. And during their Wednesday, June 11 meeting, school board members made it clear to residents that they understand why people are upset and are working to make changes. 

“We as a board, we hear people’s concerns and we want you to know we don’t take it lightly,” School Board Chairman Joii Goodman said. “Please give us patience as we get everything worked out. Thank you for your patience.”

Goodman was referring both to the budget and also specifically the salary scales that had been discussed. Due to the shortfall experienced by the school system this year, those salary scales, which the board had wanted to approve, aren’t going to happen anytime right now. 

Other school board members explained that before making any further financial decisions, the school district needs to get itself somewhat reorganized, to look at different ways of doing business. 

“Everybody knows that every public entity and office runs at a financial deficit and we are no exception,” Buckingham school board member Maynard Ritchie said. “In the coming year, we’re going to have to be looking at some things about how we do business, not as a punitive measure, but as a financial necessity in order to keep this organization up and running because the county, the state, the federal government only has so much money and so do we.”

Buckingham school board considers changes

Earlier this year, Buckingham school board vice chair Joe Snoddy had warned residents about cuts that needed to happen, as the district restructures. Ritchie echoed those comments, warning of things to come. 

“We have to make some unpopular decisions,” Ritchie told residents in the meeting. “It’s not a punitive measure against anybody, it’s a better avenue of how we conduct business and work with what we’ve got. And there’s going to be some more issues coming up in the fiscal year that folks aren’t going to like. I do value all the employees we have working with us. I think we’re a pretty good school system. We would like to keep everybody that we have and hire some more. But we can’t do anything productive until we get the financial house in order. You keep stepping up to the plate and keep swinging at it and every once in a while, you get a base hit.”

And to be clear, it’s not that county officials aren’t paying their share. Total expenses for this upcoming budget stand at $65,434,585. The largest chunk of that comes from Buckingham County Public Schools, at $33,627,900. Now to be clear, that doesn’t mean the county is paying $33 million out of pocket. Because all money comes through the county, this $33 million includes state and federal dollars. It all comes to the county and then the county disperses it to the district. 

This year, $24,734,602 from the school’s budget comes from sources other than Buckingham County. The district is asking Buckingham County for $9,412,521 in local dollars. That’s an increase of $519,223. The school board has also made a separate request, asking the county for an additional $750,000 to help cover needed pay scale adjustments. Combined, that’s a requested increase of $1.269 million, bringing the requested local school budget to $10,162,521. But as both supervisors and school board members have acknowledged in meetings earlier this year, this keeps things “as is”. In order to give steps to teachers and adjust salary scales, it would need to increase. There’s just no idea right now how to do that, unless more businesses move into Buckingham. 

A district that’s growing

Beyond finances, this is a district that’s excelling in several areas. Back in February, the National Center for Education Statistics released data from the 2024 math and reading tests, comparing states and districts across the country. While some Virginia districts struggled, Buckingham was one of six in the state recognized for exemplary progress.

At both the elementary and middle school, Buckingham used the “Zearn” math platform. The platform uses pictures, visual models and real-life examples to show students better understand math problems and solutions. That change helped 77% of the middle school’s students pass the state math test back in May 2024, marking the first time since the pandemic the school had a pass rate over the state average. They did the same with the “Lexia” reading platform at the middle school, finding ways to help students understand and gain confidence in reading. For the first time since 2019, Buckingham Middle students achieved a pass rate above the state average in reading, with 76% passing, compared to the state average of 75%.