The Hanover County School Board is still searching for a permanent superintendent, but interim Superintendent Lisa Pennycuff said she’s confident the division’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 has “a clear vision in mind.”
“I have learned since my appointment in July that the tradition of excellence is not just a saying here in Hanover County, it is a mission, and one that I have seen in action every day,” Pennycuff said in a letter to the board Jan. 21, the same day she presented the budget.
“We have a dedicated team of faculty and staff who are committed to providing the highest quality education and support for our students each year,” she added.
Under the proposal, Hanover would spend roughly $265 million on operating costs in FY26 (which runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026) — a 6.3% increase from FY25.
The district’s proposal includes a 3% salary increase for all eligible employees, plus $4.5 million to further increase the teacher salary scale, which would give teachers an average total increase of nearly 7%.
Hanover is also planning to continue a pandemic-era substitute incentive program previously paid for with federal relief money and fund two school psychologist intern positions.
“Not only would the addition of these two interns provide our students with additional access to qualified school psychologists,” Assistant Superintendent Terry Stone told the board last week, “it would allow us to develop our own pipeline for school psychologists, which is a critical shortage area in Virginia.”
Pennycuff said the school system is also planning to spend $1.4 million to “significantly offset” increasing health care costs for employees and fund a replacement for Mechanicsville Elementary School, one of several aging buildings the division identified in a 2018 study.
Long-range plans to replace Battlefield Park, Beaverdam and Washington-Henry elementary schools are already underway.
Pennycuff acknowledged that state budget amendments proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin could affect Hanover’s projections, but said she and HCPS staff are monitoring the state budgeting process for potential impacts to the division’s plans.
The school board is scheduled to hold an additional public hearing and vote on the proposal Feb. 11, then submit an approved budget to Hanover’s board of supervisors. Supervisors are set to hold a public hearing on the county’s overall budget in early April before returning the finalized education budget to the school board for adoption in May.
