Schools

School Board Invites Public to Budget Forum

A preview of Fairfax County Public Schools' budget, Saturday's discussion in Falls Church

The Fairfax County School Board is inviting taxpayers to a forum Saturday to hear details of its for fiscal year 2012, a proposal that features a $50 million pay raise for teachers.

From 9 a.m to noon at Falls Church High School, board members and staff will explain the budget proposal, which they adopted Feb.3.

Three-fourths of the school board budget comes from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which is facing a $54 million shortfall of its own.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The board received $1.61 billion from the county last year. This year, the school board asked for $48.8 million more, for a total of about $1.66 billion, a 3 percent increase.

But when County Executive Anthony H. Griffin unveiled the county's proposed 2012 budget of $6.1 billion Tuesday, he indicated the county's transfer would remain the same as fiscal year 2011, with a $2.8 million increase in the transfer for school debt service.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Just more than half of the county's budget funds the 196 elementary, middle, high and alternative schools in Fairfax County. Most Virginia school systems receive only half of their funding from their county, according to the schools' website.

Griffin's proposal included no pay raises for county employees, whose salaries — like those of the county's teachers — have been frozen for two years.

Now county supervisors are mulling over whether they can afford to pay nearly $50 million more so teachers can receive a pay raise.

The faltering economy has meant $460 million in school system budget cuts over the past three years, including the elimination of 1,400 positions and two consecutive years of frozen teacher salaries. Parents have paid $4 million to the school system in the form of athletic, parking, testing and other fees.

“Our school budget affects every family with school-aged children and every taxpayer whose taxes contribute to our revenue,” says Kathy Smith, Fairfax County School Board chair. “It’s important that we give Fairfax County residents the chance to become better informed about the advertised budget, understand the fiscal challenges we face as a school system, and have their questions answered.”

Highlights of the proposed budget:

  • The schools' budget would have been flat this year, without the proposed teacher pay raise. The $50 million increase is primarily for the pay raise.
  • The proposed $2.2 billion budget would educate a projected enrollment of nearly 180,000 students, an increase of more than 2,000.
  • The schools are seeing more children who qualify for food stamps. The numbers are now 25 percent, up from 20 percent.

Following the keynote session, four concurrent breakout sessions will delve deeper into budget topics, including employee compensation and benefits; the budget impact on FCPS programs; central office staff support for teaching and learning; and state funding challenges. Question and answer periods will be featured in each sessions.

Citizens who are planning to attend are asked to sign up online in advance or call 571-423-1075.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here