Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Update

Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Update
Posted on 05/11/2023
HCPS LogoMay 11, 2023 Update:

Dear Families, Faculty, and Staff,

We hope you are having a great week. We write today with an update on the Fiscal Year 2024 budget process.

We are excited to share with you that at Tuesday night’s School Board meeting, the Board unanimously adopted the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which places a strong emphasis on investing in our amazing team of faculty and staff while also expanding the opportunities and resources to which our students will have access in order to meet their emotional, academic, and physical needs.

Specifically, the adopted budget includes the following:


- 7% salary increase for all eligible employees
- Funding to cover 100% of increasing health care premiums for Calendar Year 2023
- Increased stipends for teacher mentors
- A new financial incentive for career switchers who want to become teachers to reward relevant work experience
- Continuation of $15 per hour minimum pay rate for all employees
- Increased substitute teacher pay rate
- 13 additional special education teachers to support increasing enrollment and the ever-growing and extensive needs of our students
- Staffing to support our youngest learners with special education needs in an inclusive learning environment
- Two additional English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers
- Local funding to continue providing positions and resources to our staff and students that were originally funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), including: Eight elementary resource teachers; Five school social workers; Four health assistants; Hanover County Online School; Paperless Human Resources onboarding software
- Funding for Google for Education Plus Licensing
- Advancing the schedule for replacing Battlefield Park Elementary, Washington-Henry Elementary, and a campus-style elementary school, as well as renovating Beaverdam Elementary

We invite you to review the entire budget on BoardDocs. As we shared with you last month, we are grateful for our strong and valued partnership with the Board of Supervisors and County Administration in helping to recognize our faculty and staff’s dedication and professionalism.

Additionally, please note that the continued work of the General Assembly may also impact the final content of the budget. Should changes be required, we would certainly keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to provide an excellent education to the children of Hanover County.

Hanover County Public Schools

April 12, 2023 Update:

Dear Families, Faculty, and Staff,

We hope you are having a great week. We are writing today to share an important update with you on the progress of next year’s budget.

We are excited to share that at Tuesday night’s School Board meeting and at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, both boards unanimously approved an additional 2% salary increase for all faculty and staff for the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2023. This additional 2% is on top of the previously approved 5% increase, meaning that in the Fiscal Year 2024 adopted budget, all eligible faculty and staff will receive a 7% salary increase.

This development is part of a series of exciting items included in this year’s budget. As we have previously shared with you, the budget also includes funding to cover 100% of rising health care premiums for staff this year, a new financial incentive for career switchers who want to become teachers to reward relevant work experience, additional special education and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, and more. The entire approved budget and Dr. Gill’s budget letter can be accessed via our website.

We continue to recognize our faculty and staff’s exceptional work in upholding our Tradition of Excellence by meeting the needs of our students, families, and community, and are grateful for our strong and valued partnership with the Board of Supervisors and County Administration to recognize their dedication and professionalism.

While this is an exciting development, please note that we remain several steps away from an adopted budget. The School Board is scheduled to adopt a budget at its May meeting. The continued work of the General Assembly may also impact the final content of the budget.

As always, we will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your continued passion and support in the life-changing work that we do every day.

February 15, 2023 Update:

Dear Families, Faculty, and Staff,

We hope you are having a great week. We are writing to share an important update with you on the progress of next year’s budget.

At its meeting last night, the School Board took an important step in the budget process and unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which Dr. Michael Gill, Superintendent of Schools, presented last month for consideration. The budget places a strong emphasis on investing in our amazing team of faculty and staff while also expanding the opportunities and resources to which our students will have access in order to meet their emotional, academic, and physical needs.

Specifically, the approved budget includes the following:

- 5% salary increase for all employees
- Salary enhancements and decompression for targeted job families to further improve starting salaries, pay equity, and regional competitiveness
- Funding to cover 100% of increasing health care premiums for Calendar Year 2023
- Increased stipends for teacher mentors
- A new financial incentive for career switchers who want to become teachers to reward relevant work experience
- Continuation of $15 per hour minimum pay rate for all employees
- Increased substitute teacher pay rate
- Funding to continue four clinical social worker positions to support student mental health needs in partnership with Hanover Community Services Board (in the event that state grant funding does not continue)
- 13 additional special education teachers to support increasing enrollment and the ever-growing and extensive needs of our students
- Staffing to support our youngest learners with special education needs in an inclusive learning environment
- Two additional English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers
- Local funding to continue providing positions and resources to our staff and students that were originally funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), including: Eight elementary resource teachers; Five school social workers; Four health assistants; Hanover County Online School; Paperless Human Resources onboarding software
- Funding for Google for Education Plus Licensing
- Advancing the schedule for replacing Battlefield Park Elementary, Washington-Henry Elementary, and a campus-style elementary school, as well as renovating Beaverdam Elementary

Dr. Gill will present the budget for consideration to the Board of Supervisors later this month on the School Board’s behalf. The School Board is scheduled to adopt a budget in May after the Board of Supervisors adopts its budget. In the meantime, we invite you to review the entire approved budget on BoardDocs and Dr. Gill’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget letter.

The approved budget demonstrates the School Board and administration’s ongoing commitment to upholding our longstanding Tradition of Excellence and the dedicated faculty and staff who make that commitment a reality, and we are encouraged by this news. While the ongoing work of the General Assembly could impact the final content of the budget, we remain optimistic. As always, we will be sure to keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your continued commitment and support of excellence in education in our county.

Hanover County Public Schools


Original January 18, 2023 Message:

Dear Families,

I hope this email finds you well. At last night’s School Board meeting, I had the pleasure of introducing my proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

Over the past three years, we have truly demonstrated the strength of our community. This strength has been shown through the trust of our families in supporting us as the only school division in Virginia to return to school in-person for five days a week in 2020-21 at all grade levels, while simultaneously offering a comprehensive online school, and through the dedication and talent of our faculty and staff in supporting our resilient students over the course of several challenging school years. This was also made possible through the strong, unwavering, and longstanding support of our many community and business partners, volunteers, county leaders, and our broader community who are vital to our continued success. As I have often remarked, our schools are a direct reflection of the community we serve, and our community is strong.

Working closely with our partners in Hanover County Administration and the Board of Supervisors, we have been deliberate in demonstrating our commitment to our students and staff since the onset of the pandemic and beyond while maintaining our devotion to fiscal responsibility. It is with this mindset and gratitude that I am proud to share that this budget continues to place our highest priority on meeting our students’ unique, complex, and evolving needs while investing in our amazing team of talented teachers and staff.

I am confident that this budget continues to uphold the Tradition of Excellence we pride ourselves on in Hanover County while placing the highest priority on caring for and supporting our students, families, faculty, and staff.

Highlights of the proposed budget include the following:

- 5% salary increase for all employees
- Salary enhancements and decompression for targeted job families to further improve starting salaries, pay equity, and regional competitiveness
- Funding to cover 100% of increasing health care premiums for Calendar Year 2023
- Increased stipends for teacher mentors
- A new financial incentive for career switchers who want to become teachers to reward relevant work experience
- Continuation of $15 per hour minimum pay rate for all employees
- Increased substitute teacher pay rate
- Funding to continue four clinical social worker positions to support student mental health needs in partnership with Hanover Community Services Board (in the event that state grant funding does not continue)
- 13 additional special education teachers to support increasing enrollment and the ever-growing and extensive needs of our students
- Staffing to support our youngest learners with special education needs in an inclusive learning environment
- Two additional English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers
- Local funding to continue providing positions and resources to our staff and students that were originally funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), including: Eight elementary resource teachers; Five school social workers; Four health assistants; Hanover County Online School; Paperless Human Resources onboarding software
- Funding for Google for Education Plus Licensing
- Advancing the schedule for replacing Battlefield Park Elementary, Washington-Henry Elementary, and a campus-style elementary school, as well as renovating Beaverdam Elementary

For a complete overview of the budget proposal, I encourage you to review my presentation from last night, which will be available on BoardDocs later today. In the meantime, you can find my letter to the School Board regarding the proposed budget on our website.

The School Board will hold a public hearing on the budget at the School Board Office on Tuesday, January 24 at 7 p.m. More details on the meeting will be shared later this week.

Pending the School Board’s approval of my proposed budget, I will present it to the Board of Supervisors in February for further consideration on the School Board’s behalf. The School Board will adopt a budget in May after the Board of Supervisors adopts its budget. More detailed information about the timeline is included at the end of my presentation from last night.

We remain proud of our efforts to provide a top-tier education and recognize that we must strategically build upon our current and past successes to ensure we remain exceptional in the future. This proposed budget invests in our students and staff, our community, long-term sustainability, and the buildings in which our longstanding Tradition of Excellence is made a reality. It upholds our promise to prepare all students to be successful and life-ready by teaching them to be empowered learners, responsible citizens, globally engaged communicators, and resilient individuals. Thank you for your continued support of this life-changing work.

With deepest appreciation,

Dr. Michael Gill
Superintendent of Schools
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