# Loudoun schools money — kitchen-table guide (FY2027) **What this is:** A plain-English walk through the official Loudoun County / LCPS budget papers we already have on disk. **What this is not:** A consultant memo, a war book, or a claim that any one vote “caused” a tax bill. **Rule:** Every dollar below comes from a named PDF in this folder. If we don’t have the PDF, we say so. **Folder:** `/workspace/briefs/financial/lcps-budget/` **Source list:** `INVENTORY.md` --- ## What “FY” means **Fiscal Year (FY)** for Loudoun and LCPS runs **July 1 → June 30**. | Label | Dates | School year | | --- | --- | --- | | **FY2027** (the year we’re in as of Sep 2026) | July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027 | 2026–27 | | **FY2026** (the prior fiscal year) | July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026 | 2025–26 | **Source:** Loudoun County FY2027 Adopted Executive Summary (cover / budget guide: “beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027”); FY2026 / FY2027 SEON titles. Files: `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf`, `FY2026-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf`, `FY2027-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf`. --- ## Who decides what (in order) Think of it as a **request → school board vote → county board appropriation**. 1. **Superintendent’s Estimate of Needs (SEON)** — the Superintendent’s **proposed** budget to the School Board (ask, not final cash). 2. **School Board Adopted Budget** — School Board may change the SEON, then sends a request to the county. 3. **Board of Supervisors (BOS) Adopted Budget + Appropriations Resolution** — this is the **local money that actually funds** LCPS. Loudoun schools are **fiscally dependent** on the BOS (they don’t levy their own property tax). 4. **Later School Board amendments** — mid-year tweaks (for example after new state money) are **not** the same as the April BOS book. Track them separately. **Sources:** Process language in SEON books; county budget guide / Exec Summary. Files: `FY2027-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf`, `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf`, `INVENTORY.md`. **Kitchen-table line:** The School Board proposes and shapes the school budget. The Board of Supervisors decides how much local tax money goes to schools. --- ## The big operating number (FY2027) **School Operating Fund: $2,066,954,668** Printed in all three of these on-file documents: | Status | File | | --- | --- | | **SEON (proposed)** | `FY2027-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf` | | **School Board Adopted** | `FY2027-lcps-school-board-adopted-executive-summary.pdf` (+ `FY2027-lcps-budget-resolution-adopted.pdf`) | | **BOS Adopted (county appropriation)** | `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf` / `FY2027-loudoun-budget-in-brief.pdf` | Same headline dollar — **still three different statuses**. For “what did taxpayers appropriate,” start with the **BOS** Schedule. For “what did LCPS propose / how is spending structured,” use **SEON / School Board** packets. Of that total, the BOS schedule shows **local tax funding (LTF) transferred to schools: $1,484,949,364**. Local transfer ≠ the whole school budget. ### Other school funds in the same FY2027 adopted books (not “operating”) | Fund | Amount (BOS Adopted) | Source file | | --- | ---: | --- | | School Grant Fund | $34,467,146 | Exec Summary + Budget in Brief | | School Nutrition Fund | $54,569,214 | Exec Summary + Budget in Brief | | School Lease Purchase Fund | $10,002,000 | Exec Summary + Budget in Brief | | School Capital Projects Fund | $71,170,000 | Budget in Brief (+ Exec Summary “School System Capital Projects”) | | School Capital Asset Preservation (CAPP) Fund | $53,130,000 | Budget in Brief | **Files:** `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf`, `FY2027-loudoun-budget-in-brief.pdf`. ### May 12, 2026 post-April amendment (sourced) School Board action increased FY27 School Operating Fund by **+$6.2M** to recognize state funding for compensation already in the adopted budget. See `FY2027-lcps-may12-operating-fund-amendment-excerpt.txt` (BoardDocs agenda excerpt; corroborated by LCPS news). Treat as **later amendment on top of the April BOS book**, not a substitute for it. --- ## Operating vs CIP (one line each) - **Operating** = this year’s day-to-day school run (the ~$2.07B School Operating Fund above). - **CIP (Capital Improvement Program)** = the **multi-year plan** to buy land, build, renovate, and equip facilities. The county adopts a **six-year** CIP (FY2027–FY2032), but **only the first year is appropriated** as cash authority; later years are planned and can change. **FY2027 appropriated school capital projects fund (first year): $71,170,000.** School CAPP (preservation/renewal-style capital): **$53,130,000** in Budget in Brief. **Sources:** CIP overview; Budget in Brief fund lines. Files: `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-CIP-overview.pdf`, `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-school-projects-CIP.pdf`, `FY2027-loudoun-budget-in-brief.pdf`. --- ## Proposed vs adopted — don’t mix the labels | Label | Meaning | Example we have on disk | | --- | --- | --- | | **SEON / Proposed** | Superintendent’s ask | FY2026 SEON Operating **$1,956,544,782**; FY2027 SEON Operating **$2,066,954,668** | | **School Board Adopted** | What the School Board sent to BOS | FY2026 full adopted book Operating **$1,962,144,782**; FY2027 Exec Summary / Resolution / BOS deck (Operating **$2,066,954,668**) — **no full multi-section FY27 SB adopted book posted yet** | | **BOS Adopted** | What the county appropriated | FY2026 **$1,962,144,782**; FY2027 **$2,066,954,668** | For FY2026, the **adopted** operating appropriation is **higher** than the SEON operating figure. For FY2027, SEON and School Board Adopted Exec Summary match the BOS operating headline — amendments on Feb 3 appear to have redistributed within that total. --- ## Year-over-year snapshot (operating only, BOS adopted) | Year | School Operating Fund | Source | | --- | ---: | --- | | FY2026 BOS Adopted | $1,962,144,782 | `FY2026-loudoun-budget-story.pdf` / FY26 SB Adopted book | | FY2027 BOS Adopted | $2,066,954,668 | `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf` / Budget in Brief | Exec Summary also prints the YoY change on that line as **+$104,809,886** (FY26 adopted → FY27 adopted). --- ## What we still lack (so we don’t overclaim) | Gap | Why it matters | | --- | --- | | **FY27 School Board Adopted Budget book (full multi-section)** | Closest: Exec Summary + Adopted Resolution + BOS presentation — not a FY26-style full adopted book | | **FY27 BOS Appropriations Resolution PDF** | Legal twin of the FY26 resolution packet (totals are already in Exec Summary / Budget in Brief) | Public claims can now cite SEON / School Board / BOS PDFs on file — just **keep the status labels**. Headline for the county appropriation remains: **“BOS Adopted FY2027 School Operating Fund = $2,066,954,668”** (April book), with May 12 **+$6.2M** noted separately when discussing later School Board authority. --- ## Provenance (files used) - `FY2027-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf` — BoardDocs DQCT44757CE4 - `FY2027-lcps-school-board-adopted-executive-summary.pdf` — BoardDocs DR5JTP4EC11A - `FY2027-lcps-budget-resolution-adopted.pdf` — LCPS FY27 folder - `FY2027-lcps-school-board-adopted-budget-presented-to-bos.pdf` — LCPS Feb 9, 2026 folder - `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-executive-summary.pdf` — https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/221478/Executive-Summary-PDF - `FY2027-loudoun-budget-in-brief.pdf` — https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/222153/Budget-In-Brief-FY-2027-Interactive-Web - `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-CIP-overview.pdf` — https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/221482/Capital-Improvement-Program-Overview-PDF - `FY2027-loudoun-adopted-school-projects-CIP.pdf` — https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/221486/School-Projects-PDF - `FY2026-lcps-school-board-adopted-budget.pdf` — LCPS FY26 folder - `FY2026-lcps-superintendent-estimate-of-needs.pdf` — BoardDocs FY26 SEON - `FY2026-loudoun-budget-story.pdf` — https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/216714/Budget-Story-FY-2026-WEB - `FY2027-lcps-may12-operating-fund-amendment-excerpt.txt` — BoardDocs DT6HMP4919FD + lcps.org/article/2895686 - Index: `INVENTORY.md` **Prepared / updated:** 2026-09-09 (America/New_York). SAMPLE / staff use; for public post use the one-pager and keep labels honest.