By Brian Trompeter
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will kick off its 2024-2025 school year Aug. 19 and give students a four-day weekend for the Labor Day holiday.
Led by Superintendent Michelle Reid, FCPS is the nation’s ninth-largest school system, with about 25,200 full-time employees serving nearly 183,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
FCPS has 199 schools and centers, 187 of which are Energy Star certified – the most of any school system in the country. The system’s buildings and office space take up more than 28 million square feet.
Within the GazetteLeader’s coverage area, students attend schools in the Langley, Oakton, George C. Marshall, James Madison and McLean high-school pyramids. Academically outstanding students also may apply to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology.
FCPS has a $3.7 billion fiscal 2025 operating budget that consumes slightly more than half of the county’s overall general-fund budget.
During fiscal 2024, Fairfax County taxpayers footed 68.9 percent of the school system’s budget, while the commonwealth of Virginia contributed 26.6 percent and other sources the remaining 4.5 percent.
State underfunding of public education in Fairfax County is the subject of regular complaints by the 10-member Board of Supervisors and 12-member School Board.
FCPS is highly diverse, with 36.5 percent of its students being white, 28 percent Hispanic, 19 percent Asian, 9.8 percent black and 6.6 percent two or more races.
The student population also varies by household wealth, with 33.4 percent of pupils eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals. In addition, 15.5 percent of students have disabilities.
More than 1,600 school buses, including 31 electrically powered ones, transport more than 141,000 students each school day.
The school system this year will begin offering boys’ volleyball and girls’ wrestling at the high-school level.
The school year will consist of 180 instructional days and end June 11, 2025.
FCPS was founded in 1870 after Virginia had been readmitted to the Union following the Civil War. Fairfax County at the time had just 44 teachers working out of 41 schools, 28 of which were for white students and 13 for blacks.
To learn more about the school system, visit www.fcps.edu.
