What's in the Hoover school board's $275 million budget for 2027

The Hoover Board of Education approved a $275 million budget for fiscal 2027, and the details were reported this week (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026). The board met on the budget on September 8, according to the article’s photo caption. Unlike the city’s budget, this one is approved.

The top-line numbers

All from the same report (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026):

• $275 million total, which the paper describes as a 1 percent increase over the 2026 budget
• $225 million of that from the general fund, up from $205 million in 2026
• $20 million in projected capital projects
• Total revenue for 2027 expected to be $267 million
• About 73 percent of general fund spending goes to salaries and benefits

The 1 percent figure and the general fund figures do not obviously line up, and the article does not explain the difference. We are passing along both as reported rather than calculating our own percentage.

Why costs are rising while enrollment is not

Enrollment fell by 33 students to 13,289 between fall 2024 and fall 2025. Staffing is going up anyway, because student needs are. The district has added 12 exceptional education aides, six exceptional education teachers, four enrichment teachers, two part-time interventionists and one office secretary (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).

Special education is the biggest driver. The district has 1,869 students with disabilities, up 137 from last year, and expects to spend $46 million on special education services this year. That compares with $36.2 million last year, $30 million two years ago and $25.2 million three years ago. Federal funding covers 12 percent of that cost for 2027 (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).

The Riverchase connection

Hoover now has seven Title I schools, meaning at least 40 percent of their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Riverchase Elementary is one of them, along with Green Valley, Gwin, Rocky Ridge, Shades Mountain and Trace Crossings elementary schools and Simmons Middle School (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).

Across the district, 4,274 students, or 32 percent, qualify for free and reduced-price meals, down from 4,526 students, or 34 percent, last year (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).

None of the capital projects listed in the article names Riverchase Elementary. Some are described only as “multiple schools,” so we cannot say whether Riverchase is included in those.

Capital projects named in the budget

The larger items reported (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026):

• $2.75 million — roofing projects at multiple schools
• $2.5 million — heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements
• $2.3 million — athletic upgrades at Greystone Elementary, Berry and Simmons middle schools and Spain Park High
• $2.2 million — new kitchen hoods at Hoover and Spain Park high schools
• $1.28 million — Spain Park High soccer field upgrades
• $1 million each — central office boardroom renovation; bathroom, flooring and accessibility work at Berry Middle; Hoover High turf replacement and track resurfacing
• $900,000 — six new buses
• $700,000 — playground upgrades at Bluff Park, South Shades Crest and Trace Crossings elementary schools
• $600,000 — parking lot improvement at Rocky Ridge Elementary

Buses and meals

Transportation spending rises to $9.9 million from $8.1 million. The district has 98 drivers covering 320 bus routes with 5,309 stops, and 19 of those drivers are also teachers. Child nutrition spending rises to $13.1 million from $11.8 million (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).

Debt payments drop this year from $13.3 million to $10.1 million (Hoover Sun, September 22, 2026).