HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — The Harrisonburg School Board held a public hearing during last night’s work session on the 2026-2027 school budget. 

One Special Education Assistant noted that the 9 % raise for Instructional Assistants last year was a nice gesture, but it hasn’t been able to keep up with the rising rent and grocery costs. 

“The 9% raise almost matched the raise in my portion of the rent. 9% of my current salary is about $900 a year, which is about $75 per month. So, the 9% raise, I was only getting an extra $25 per month after the raised portion of the rent from the city for the hard work I do in special education,” said the Special Education Assistant.

The speaker continued by saying they need an overhaul on what they get paid for an actual living wage. 

The School Board hopes to have numbers from the state legislature to adopt an official School Board budget by the second meeting in April.