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VOL. 10, NO. 41
21
AUGUST 21, 2025
Feds Move to Pull Funding from Schools BY PATRICK LEWIS
The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday it would work to end federal funding to Loudoun County Public Schools. The announcement comes after the School Board voted not to comply with a federally proposed agreement that would have kept funding in place by rolling back policies governing transgender students. Loudoun schools receive around $46 million annually from the federal government. School divisions in Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William counties and the City of Alexandria also refused to comply with the federal order. “States and school districts cannot openly violate federal law while simultaneously
FEDERAL FUNDING continues on page 34
Patrick Lewis/Loudoun Now
Loudoun County is losing its federal education funding, the latest chapter in the years-long battle over Policy 8040.
With $61M in Transfers, School Board to Zero Out Budget Fund Balance BY PATRICK LEWIS
Loudoun County Public Schools is expected to fully spend its fiscal year 2025 budget surplus when the School Board votes on two budget measures in September that will tap the remaining $61 million that otherwise would be returned to the county government. During the Aug. 12 School Board meet-
ing, division Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby recommended that the board approve a transfer of $43 million to the school’s Health Self-Insurance Fund, around $1.5 million for the worker’s compensation fund, and $29 million for repayments to the Department of Education after the discovery of a misappropriation of that money. She called the $43 million insurance fund transfer a “year-end technical housekeeping
item” that she said was anticipated by staff. Willoughby told the board that the budget’s estimate for the Health Self-Insurance Fund was $43 million short for the actual needs this year, something she attributed to “rapidly rising medical, prescription vision, and dental claims, which collectively increased a little over 12% compared to the prior year.” Those claims were driven by “increased
utilization of specialty drugs, increasing numbers of catastrophic claims, and care for chronic conditions,” Willoughby said. She said that both the number of claims and the cost of claims have climbed, leading to the shortfall. Thirty-two million dollars will be transferred from available fund balance,
SCHOOL FUND BALANCE continues on page 9
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