The proposed fiscal year 2027 Fairfax County Public Schools budget includes funding to increase athletic programming and augment stipends to coaches.
“We’re expanding middle school sports again next year, as well as adding junior-varsity boys volleyball,” Superintendent Michelle Reid said during her Jan. 22 budget briefing to the Fairfax County School Board.
In addition, “girls wrestling has a few more options next year,” she told the board when outlining her $4.1 billion budget package.
FCPS did not have a middle school athletics program until the 2023-2024 school year, when fall cross-country and spring track competition debuted.
No additional sports have been added at the middle school level since, but FCPS introduced girls wrestling and varsity boys volleyball programs for high school students in the 2024-2025 school year.
According to data shared by FCPS, 301 girls and 445 boys are participating in wrestling and volleyball, respectively, this winter, while middle school cross-country drew 1,915 students last fall. Participation numbers for middle school track aren’t available for the 2025-2026 school year, since the season doesn’t start until this spring.
At the Jan. 22 meeting, Reid was pressed by at-large school board member Ryan McElveen for hints on what the next sport at the middle-school level would be.
Reid said administrators have been working on it but haven’t finalized their recommendations.
“I don’t even know,” Reid said, but promised McElveen that “as soon as we know, you’ll know.”
In addition to expanding sports offerings, Reid’s proposed budget includes $1.9 million in additional funding for coaching stipends and $700,000 in funding to support athletic trainers. Both requests continue multi-year efforts to improve support for those positions.
Reid’s $4.1 billion budget proposal represents an increase of $197 million, or 5%, from the current budget.
While much of FCPS’ funding — a requested $2.84 billion — comes from Fairfax County, the Board of Supervisors does not determine how the school system spends its allocated money.
