District overview
Clarke County Public Schools
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How are Clarke County schools paid for?
Clarke County Public Schools serves about 1,800 students in four schools in the town of Berryville and rural Clarke County, Virginia. Virginia's school funding formula uses a Local Composite Index (LCI) to decide how much each county must pay itself. Clarke is judged fairly wealthy, so the county pays most of the cost: in the FY 2027 budget, local money is $9,189 of the $16,890 spent per student on operations. The elected five-member School Board adopts a budget each February, but the county Board of Supervisors decides how much local money the schools get and sets the tax rate.
County pays the biggest share
Local funds are about 54% of operating money per pupil in FY 2027 ($9,189 of $16,890); the state adds $5,576 plus $1,690 in sales tax, and federal money $434.
Formula change helped
The LCI dropped to 0.5542 in late 2025, which the superintendent said could add about $997,000 (4.9%) in state money, depending on enrollment.
Enrollment is slipping
Fewer students cut expected state revenue by $230,215 in FY 2026; the division was down about 25 students by February 2026.
Shared services with the county
Finance and building maintenance are joint county-school departments, and the Board of Supervisors must approve capital projects and carryover spending.
Clarke's schools score well: three of four were rated Distinguished in fall 2026 and the high school ranked third in its region. Tight budgets have not shown up as low ratings.
Where the district stands
Up from $16,087 in FY 2026. Excludes debt service ($1,210) and capital ($590).
Up $1,532,011 (5.1%) from FY 2026; includes a 5% raise.
Calculated: $9,189 local of $16,890 total.
1,833 including Pre-K; 307 staff.
County covered 12 points; 7% passed to employees.
Of $713,955 total carryover.
Major projects
Heating and cooling repairs
underwayHVAC units at Johnson-Williams Middle School failed in December 2025 and were replaced; second-floor work started in August 2026, with final work after the 2026-27 school year. Cooley's chiller is being rented until it can be replaced.
- Superintendent reports HVAC failures at Johnson-Williams
- Capital plan update: Johnson-Williams second-floor work under way
- $709,544 of carryover sent to HVAC
Funding
FY 2026 carryover funds plus insurance claims
Cooley Upper Campus and office land handed to the county
underwayThe county plans a 15,000-square-foot Health & Human Services building and Parks and Recreation space. The School Board voted to surplus both properties.
- County asks to study the sites
- Parents raise green-space and traffic concerns
- Board tells its lawyer to proceed
- Board votes 5-0 to surplus both properties
Funding
Clarke County (county capital plan)
New hybrid schedule at the middle and high school
completeEight short periods on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and four long blocks on Wednesday and Thursday, replacing an 8-period day that broke the state teaching-load limit.
- Adopted for Clarke County High School
- Adopted for Johnson-Williams Middle School
- Board told the new schedule is going OK
Funding
Operating budget (staffing)
Superintendent search
underwayA board member said Dr. Rick Bolling is leaving in January 2027. The board is meeting in closed session on next steps.
- Special closed session on the search
- Search discussed again in closed session
Funding
Not stated
FY 2028 budget
plannedThe budget calendar runs from staff requests in November 2026 to School Board adoption in February and county approval in April 2027.
- FY28 budget calendar approved
- Public comment at start of budget process
- Superintendent proposes budget
- School Board adopts budget
Funding
County, state and federal funds
Recent news
All 209 collected official documents from October 2025 to October 2026 on the board's Diligent Community portal (agendas, approved minutes and packet attachments for 16 meetings), the district's per-pupil cost disclosures, and 14 board meeting recordings reviewed through YouTube auto-generated captions.
Get alerts for Clarke County Public Schools
We read every agenda, packet, recording, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
Copy the RSS link into your feed reader to get new published alerts.