Fairfax County Public Schools leaders say the proposed $4.1 billion fiscal year 2027 budget presented Jan. 22 by Superintendent Michelle Reid is fiscally responsible and worthy of full support by the Board of Supervisors.
School Board Chair Sandy Anderson termed it a “nothing-fancy” package that fits the economic times.
“This just keeps us going the way we’re going,” said Anderson, who represents Springfield District on the School Board.
Reid and School Board members last year saw the proposed fiscal year 2026 schools budget criticized as excessive by county supervisors, with recriminations on both sides.
Supervisors did not provide all the funds requested, leading school leaders to make last-minute cuts, including to staff raises promised in recently approved labor contracts. In the aftermath, County Executive Bryan Hill pressed Reid to propose a “budget of reality” for the upcoming FY 2027.
For this budget cycle, members of both the school board and Board of Supervisors and their staffs have been working closer together to avoid any unforeseen surprises.
Reid’s funding request represents an increase of $197 million, or 5%, from the current budget.
“This budget focuses on the essentials,” Reid said, calling it “exactly what we need” — no more, no less.
Of the $197 million in additional spending, $178 million would go to increase staff compensation and benefits.
“Strong educators and support staff are the cornerstone of student success,” Reid said at last Thursday’s school board meeting, where she unveiled the proposal.
The budget also seeks to reduce class sizes and restore special education and advanced academic resource positions that had to be cut last year after FCPS received less funding from the county than anticipated.
When formulating the budget, FCPS officials were told not to propose any new spending without finding a way to save the same amount elsewhere, Reid said.
“We know there aren’t new resources,” Reid said. “We’re being very thoughtful to the funds entrusted to us. We need to stop doing [existing] things to start doing new things.”
The budget proposal seeks an increase of 5.1% in the county government’s transfer of funds to the school system, up $138.4 million to just over $2.84 billion.
The transfer request is a step down from the $268 million in additional funding Reid sought last year, but it’s still about $22 million higher than the $116 million in additional support that county officials currently project will be available to fund schools for the coming fiscal year.
In her presentation to the school board, Reid said the $116 million figure does not include revenue from the newly imposed meals tax. She noted that it would take only a portion of the approximately $140 million that the tax is expected to generate to close the gap between the funding FCPS is seeking and what the county says it will likely be available.
It would be “a very reasonable” ask for some of the tax revenue to be allocated to FCPS, she said.
“I do feel confident the supervisors will give us the $22 million,” Dranesville District School Board member Robyn Lady agreed.
Unlike many states, Virginia does not give local school districts independent taxing authority. The prohibition was part of a deal worked out in the General Assembly in the 1990s to give localities the authority to elect school boards, which previously had appointed positions.
The Fairfax County School Board has included a proposal for some form of independent taxing power in their state legislative packages from time to time, but appear to have never robustly lobbied for it.
The budget proposal anticipates state funding will increase to about $861 million. It projects a slight decline in federal dollars, but those only total about $50 million, or 1.2% of the school system’s operating budget.
At the moment, there’s no way to know how accurate those estimates will prove.
“I am hopeful we’ll get more funding, at least from the state,” at-large School Board member Ilryong Moon said.
The budget anticipates an enrollment of 176,133 students for the 2026-2027 school year. Though it’s the largest district in the state, Fairfax’s student population remains below pre-pandemic levels.
A public hearing on the proposed school budget will be held on Feb. 10, with an extension to Feb. 11 if necessary. Other key upcoming dates in the budget process include:
- Feb. 17: County Executive Bryan Hill releases his proposed budget
- Feb. 24: Joint School Board/Board of Supervisors meeting
- April 14: School Board members present their budget to supervisors
- May 5: Board of Supervisors adopts county budget, sets tax rate and amount of transfer to schools
- May 21: School Board adopts its budget
- July 1: Fiscal year 2027 budget goes into effect
In her comments, Lady, the school board’s vice chair, summarized in a single word her view of how she felt the process would play out over coming months.
“Optimistic,” she said.
