Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras presented a proposed $43.7 million increase in the operating budget and a $13.6 million increase for school infrastructure improvements at Tuesday night’s School Board meeting.

The proposal, referred to as Kamras’ “Estimate of Needs,” focuses on five key priorities outlined in RPS’s strategic plan, Dreams4RPS: academics, talent, wellness, engagement and operations. 

Kamras told the board that this operation budget increase is the largest he has proposed. The funding would come from two primary sources: the state and the city.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s FY2026 budget proposal includes an additional $5.7 million for RPS, but the district anticipates receiving closer to $10 million based on the General Assembly’s historical support for K-12 education.

However, the final contribution from Richmond City Council remains uncertain as the city reviews its budget projections. RPS estimates it will need at least $30 million from the city to fully fund the proposed operating budget.

“This is going to be a tight year for the city,” Kamras told the board, alluding to the city’s recent water outage. “As we saw just a couple of weeks ago, the city has some deep infrastructure needs as well.”

The largest share of RPS’ proposed operating budget—$22.7 million—is allocated for talent. This includes nearly $16.5 million for collective bargaining agreements covering existing and anticipated contracts. The $16.5 million also funds a 3% pay raise for teachers in the upcoming fiscal year, raising the average teacher salary from $52,000 to more than $73,000.

The second largest portion of the operation budget is $12.4 million in academics, which includes $5.5 million for 55 additional English-language learner teachers due to the the growing population of English-language learners.

While RPS has made renovations to a handful of its facilities during the past few months, RPS is proposing $13.6 million to continue improving its school infrastructure, specifically HVAC – costing $3.15 million – and overall structural improvements – costing $3.65 million.

Matthew Percival, 1st District, praised the proposed infrastructure spending, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing practical needs.

“I see some very unsexy things like HVAC, roofs, electrical and fire safety. It’s interesting,” Percival said. “I would encourage our colleagues to take a hard look at our budget and see a lack of caviar and limousine to make the right decision.”

This is the first meeting under the new rule of shorter speaking times for the School Board, which allows for three minutes. Kamras expressed his gratitude to the board for their collaboration.

“This is hard work and it is great to feel like we’re in it together,” he said.