Speakers at the Senate-House budget hearing asked the General Assembly to keep recent gains in education funding and to remove proposed reimbursement caps that they say will strain special-education placements.

Keith Peregrine, president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and superintendent of Washington County Schools, thanked lawmakers for recent increases and asked that the General Assembly adopt recommendations to lift the support cap from 24 to 27.5 positions and add special education as an at‑risk add‑on. “We appreciate both the General Assembly and the governor's support for K‑12 education in their budgets,” Peregrine said.

Ethan Long, representing VIA Centers for Neurodevelopment, asked legislators to remove proposed budget language that would impose a 2.5% reimbursement cap on Comprehensive Services Act payments for private special-education day tuition. Long said private day providers must hire and train specialized staff to meet students' needs under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and warned that the cap would shift costs onto localities and jeopardize placements.

Long noted that the General Assembly previously removed a rate cap in 2023 and asked lawmakers to resist reintroducing one. No committee votes occurred during the hearing; the comments were submitted to inform budget negotiations.