The Henry County Board of Supervisors held public hearings for the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2025-2026 school budget and the total county budget at its April 22 meeting.

County Administrator Dale Wagoner said the proposed budget recommends $119,724,257 for the Henry County school system with $23,398,263 in local funds.
“Unless you have additional changes or recommendations, we have a meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, April 29 at 3 p.m. As of now, the only agenda item is for your consideration of approval of the school budget and the total county budget,” he said.
During the school budget’s public hearing, Jennifer Rabon asked the board to reconsider Carlisle Schools’ request for funding for a School Resource Officer (SRO).
As a mother, Rabon said she has three children attending Carlisle School and went on a field trip with two of them last week.
“At lunchtime, all the teachers and all of our phones started to buzz with an alert from Carlisle School. As any parent of a school-aged child when you get those notifications there is that brief moment when you wonder if this is the moment that your life is changed forever. Thankfully it was not,” she said.
For the last three years Rabon said there’s been an SRO on campus funded by Carlisle.
“Henry County also lets us have a vehicle on the premises that gives us a visual cue and hopefully a deterrent if anyone wanted to come to campus” and cause trouble, she said.
Rabon noted Carlisle’s tuition ranges from $6,000-$14,000 per year, “which is a lot. However, reading through the school budget, I think Henry County is spending over $16,000 per student for support. So, I feel like we are offering and delivering a very good product for less money,” she said.
In other matters, the board:

*Approved a resolution supporting the Community Development Block Grant application for a project to rehabilitate up to 11 low-to-moderate income residential houses in the Old Bassett Heights Road area.
*Approved amendments to the bylaws for the Martinsville-Henry County 911 Joint Dispatch Center.
*Approved the county’s participation in the Intergovernmental Agreement with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to coordinate interstate and intrastate mutual aid. *Approved an additional appropriation of $17,124 received from the Circuit Court Records Preservation Grant program to preserve marriage bonds and order books dating back to the 1700s.
*Approved the purchase of a fire truck from Municipal Emergency Services for the Collinsville Volunteer Fire Department and disbursed $683,292 to the department for the purchase.
*Approved an additional appropriation of $1,675,000 to the School Textbook Fund for the purchase of Mathematics and English textbooks.
*Awarded a contract of $48,419 to CorrecTeck, Inc., for the purchase of the Spark Electronic Health Records system for the Adult Detention Center.
*Awarded a contract to EMS Management and Consultants, Inc., for Public Safety and Volunteer EMS and fire billing services. Compensation under this contract is based on the percentage of collections, which historically has resulted in an annual cost of approximately $65,000.
*Approved its Six-Year Secondary Road Plan.
*Heard a general highway update from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Resident Engineer Lisa Price-Hughes.
*Conducted a public hearing and approved a change in the county ordinance to reflect a precinct relocation of Fieldale #201 to the Fieldale Apartments Auditorium on Marshall Way.
*Appointed Jay Gilbert to an unexpired term on the Parks & Recreation Board set to expire on June 30, 2025.