MONTGOMERY CO., Va. – Montgomery County Public Schools has spent beyond its legal budget authority for fiscal year 2026, county officials confirmed, leaving teacher and staff salaries at risk and prompting an emergency meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.
The special public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 7:15 p.m. in the Board Room at the Montgomery County Government Center, 755 Roanoke St. #1A, Christiansburg, Va.
How the overspending came to light
County staff learned of the budget breach on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24, 2026, when MCPS notified them that the school system had exceeded its legal spending authority for FY 2026. The following day, June 25, both the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the Montgomery County School Board were formally notified.
MCPS is estimated to have overspent its budget by approximately $4 million. The Board of Supervisors had appropriated $158 million to MCPS operations for FY 2026 — roughly two-thirds, or 67 percent, of Montgomery County’s total budget for the fiscal year. The remaining one-third funded public safety, general government administration, judicial administration, general services, health and welfare, parks and recreation, community development, and other agencies.
County officials say the overspending is not connected to state or federal budget issues.
What happens at Tuesday’s meeting
At the June 30 session, the Board of Supervisors will consider an appropriation resolution to provide immediate funding to MCPS, ensuring teacher and staff salaries and other outstanding expenses from the final quarter of FY 2026 can be paid.
Board of Supervisors Chair April DeMotts addressed the urgency directly.
“We do hope that Montgomery County Public Schools will be able to provide that level of detail in the coming days,” DeMotts said. “At this time, the emergency is making sure that we have the funds available to pay Montgomery County Public Schools staff and teachers.”
The board will also detail how MCPS will repay the county for the emergency appropriation. Because the spending exceeded MCPS’s legal authority, the funds must come from the county’s general fund — and supervisors want that money back.
“One other item that the board of supervisors will be detailing via resolution tomorrow night is how the funds that we appropriate from the county’s general fund will be repaid to Montgomery County because this is in excess of their legal spending authority for fiscal year 26,” DeMotts said. “This is money that has to come from the county’s general fund, and so we are interested in making sure that the county’s general fund is reimbursed for this expenditure.”
That reimbursement is expected to come from MCPS in fiscal year 2027. It will not include the separate FY 2027 funding the board already appropriated to MCPS on June 8, 2026.
The cause of the overspending has not yet been determined.
State law and potential consequences
Virginia law limits how much a school board can spend in any fiscal year. Under Code of Virginia § 22.1-91, no school board may expend or contract to expend any amount above the funds available for school purposes without the consent of the governing body that appropriated the funds. Any school board member, division superintendent, or school officer who violates — or votes to violate — that provision can be found guilty of malfeasance in office.
How residents can weigh in
Tuesday’s special meeting is a business meeting with one action item — consideration of an appropriation and budget amendment. It will not include a public comment period.
“The public meeting tomorrow night is a business meeting with one action item on the agenda, which is a consideration of an appropriation in the budget amendment,” DeMotts said. “There will not be the opportunity for public comment tomorrow night, but we do encourage citizens to reach out to the board of supervisors either via email, by phone, or by coming to our next regularly scheduled meeting on July 13th at 7:15 p.m.”