District overview
Henry County Public Schools
How Henry County Public Schools is paid for, who decides, and what building work is under way.
Who pays for Henry County's schools, and who decides?
Henry County Public Schools runs 13 schools for about 7,000 students around Collinsville, Bassett, Ridgeway and Axton, led by Superintendent Dr. Amy Blake-Lewis. Seven school board members are elected, one from each election district, and the board meets on the first Thursday of each month. Like every Virginia county division, it cannot levy a tax: its money is state aid under the Standards of Quality formula, federal grants, and an appropriation from the Henry County Board of Supervisors. Henry County also charges a one percent local sales tax dedicated to building and renovating schools, which is unusual and is why large building projects here go to the Supervisors rather than being decided by the school board alone. This page is built from the Supervisors' records, because the school board publishes its own agendas and minutes only through a service that will not answer requests from this project.
The state pays most of it, and the state is paying less
The county's 2026-27 budget sets $117,973,744 for the schools. The state reduced its support by $1,970,466 because the funding formula changed and student numbers kept falling. The county raised its own contribution 4.1% to $24,352,855, which covers part but not all of the gap.
A one percent sales tax pays for school buildings
Henry County collects a one percent local sales tax dedicated to new school construction and renovation. It had generated $26,077,573 by April 2026, with $19,416,864 spent or committed and about $5,700,000 more expected in the coming year. Elevators, electrical switchgear and heating and cooling systems were all funded from it during the year.
The Supervisors can and do say no
On March 24, 2026 the Supervisors approved $6,000,000 for heating and cooling work at three schools and, at the same meeting, rejected $532,239 for standby generators at three elementary schools by two votes to three. Both requests came from the superintendent.
The two boards meet together on the budget
The Supervisors held a joint budget session with the School Board on February 24, 2026, at which the superintendent and assistant superintendent presented the division's outlook, then a public hearing on April 20 and adoption on May 5. School administrators attended the county's budget work sessions throughout.
The gaps on this page are about what can be read, not about how the division is run. Henry County publishes a great deal through the Supervisors: named schools, exact figures, recorded votes and a dedicated construction tax. What is missing is the school board's own record of its curriculum, policy and staffing decisions, and none of what is here says anything about those.
What is on the public record
Federal NCES Common Core of Data district directory, 2022 collection year. The county's 2026-27 budget documents describe a continued decline in enrolment since then but give no current figure.
Federal NCES Common Core of Data district directory, 2022 collection year.
Adopted by the Supervisors on May 5, 2026. The school and total county budgets together came to $231,528,674, so the schools are just over half of everything the county spends.
Up 4.1% on the year before: $22,092,452 for running the schools and $2,260,403 for school debt. The operations share alone rose $1,190,431, or 5.7%.
Attributed to changes in the Local Composite Index, the formula that decides how much of the bill Virginia expects a locality to pay, and to continued decline in student enrolment.
Of that, $19,416,864 had been spent or committed by April 2026, and about $5,700,000 more was expected in the coming year.
36 documents in all: 19 agenda packets and 17 sets of approved minutes. Eleven of the 20 meetings dealt with school money. School board meetings themselves are not included, because those records are not reachable.
Major projects
One percent sales tax school building programme
Active, with about $6.7 million of new work approved during the yearHenry County's dedicated one percent sales tax pays for building and renovating schools, and the school division brings requests to the Supervisors project by project. During the year this funded new elevators at two elementary schools, design work and then replacement of the main electrical switchgear at four schools, and, with a state grant, new heating and cooling at three more.
- $1,859,700 approved: elevators at Drewry Mason and G. W. Carver elementary schools, plus design work for switchgear at two middle schools
- County administrator reports elevator and switchgear work has begun, along with ten new school buses and air conditioning in the Axton Elementary gym
- $4,200,000 from the fund plus a $1,800,000 state grant approved for heating and cooling at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle, Sanville Elementary and the Career Academy
- $162,100 approved for design work on switchgear at Bassett High School and Magna Vista High School
- $838,000 requested to replace the switchgear at Fieldale-Collinsville and Laurel Park middle schools
Funding
Henry County's dedicated one percent local sales tax for school construction and renovation, plus a state School Construction Assistance Program grant
FY 2026-2027 school budget
Adopted May 5, 2026The county's budget year runs from a work session in February, through a joint session with the School Board, a proposed budget in April and a public hearing, to adoption in May. This year it had to absorb a $1.97 million reduction in state support while raising the county's own contribution 4.1%. The Supervisors set the real estate tax rate at 50 cents per $100 of assessed value and eliminated the motor vehicle licence fee.
- County budget work session opens the 2026-27 cycle
- Joint budget session with the School Board; superintendent presents the division's outlook
- Proposed county budget presented, with $117,973,744 for the schools
- Public hearing on the school board budget and total county budget
- Supervisors adopt the school budget by category and set the tax rates
- County administrator warns more local money will be needed for mandatory school funding and promises a financial plan
Funding
Virginia Standards of Quality state aid, federal grants, and a Henry County appropriation set by the Board of Supervisors
How to pay for the next round of school building work
Unresolved: the division has not taken up the financing offeredAt the February 9, 2026 budget work session the county administrator told the Supervisors that Henry County Schools had opted not to use financing to speed up their identified capital projects for 2026-2030. The county's financial adviser had suggested funding strategies that would finish those projects sooner while protecting the county against a downturn, and noted the schools are eligible for 2% long-term Literary Loans from the Virginia Department of Education, at or below the rate the county earns on its own balances. He said a plan using some borrowing could save several million dollars over 20 years.
- Supervisors told the school division has opted not to use financing to accelerate its capital plan
- $6 million of heating and cooling work funded from the sales tax fund and a state grant rather than borrowing
- County administrator says more local money will be needed to meet mandatory school funding
Funding
Currently pay-as-you-go from the one percent sales tax fund; Virginia Literary Loans at 2% were offered as an alternative
Built from 36 documents published by the Henry County Board of Supervisors in the county's Agenda Center: 19 agenda packets and 17 sets of approved minutes covering 20 meetings between Sept. 9, 2025 and Aug. 25, 2026. All were read in full. The Supervisors set the county's appropriation to the school division, approve transfers between school budget categories, and control the one percent sales tax fund that pays for school buildings, so their record carries the division's funding decisions in detail even though it is not the school board's own record.
Get alerts for Henry County Public Schools
We read every agenda, packet, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
View alerts for this district