The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this month allocated nearly a million dollars to continue planning for a Chantilly arts hub.
The funding came from dollars left over at the end of the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget and was requested by Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted today (Sept. 15) to restore funding for crossing guard services at a number of public high schools.
The board unanimously approved a fiscal year 2026 budget carryover review package that included $707,908 in funding and 11 full-time police positions to restore coverage of 11 crossings at 10 high schools for the remainder of fiscal year 2027, which began on July 1 and will end on June 30, 2027.
Fairfax County Public Schools officials are willing to at least explore the idea of selling naming rights to high school athletic facilities.
At its Sept. 8 work session, the Fairfax County School Board directed county staff to gather more information from the business community, while the elected officials try to hammer out policy guardrails.
Like the county government, Fairfax County Public Schools is preparing for a challenging financial year ahead — one that could require further reductions to staffing and other cuts.
With spending commitments for fiscal year 2028 outweighing anticipated revenue, the school board and superintendent will need to identify cost savings and potential reductions, according to FCPS Chief Financial Officer Leigh Burden.
Fairfax County officials are poised to walk back their elimination of high school crossing guards, while pushing for additional measures to improve safety around schools.
At the Board of Supervisors meeting tomorrow (Tuesday), county staff will recommend providing $707,908 to restore 11 crossing guard positions affected by the fiscal year 2027 budget adopted in May, according to a memo that Deputy County Executive Tom Arnold sent to board members last Friday (Sept. 11).
Fairfax County officials have started making preparations for what they anticipate will be another challenging budget season next spring.
“The low-hanging fruit is gone,” Philip Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget, told the Board of Supervisors at its Budget Policy Committee meeting on Sept. 1.
A Fairfax County supervisor is pressing his colleagues to add funding for additional ballot drop boxes to support future elections.
Currently, the county operates a single permanent voter dropbox at the Fairfax County Government Center, for a community of about 1.1 million people spread across approximately 400 square miles.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering tightening rules around funding awarded to nonprofit and regional organizations.
Each year, supervisors distribute about $26 million to the organizations through what is known as the Contributory Fund.
As many Fairfax County high school students drive or walk to school this fall, they’re arriving at a building without a dedicated crossing guard — and, only a few days into the new academic year, several elected officials say that absence is already creating problems.
This past spring, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors eliminated funding for crossing guards at all public high schools, a move that was expected to save the county about $1.89 million in police staffing costs.
A middle ground may be emerging in what has become a tug-of-war between the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board over funding after-school programming at all 27 public middle schools.
The potential compromise: Rather than charging participation fees to families, the school system could seek voluntary donations and public-private partnerships to cover some of the enrichment program’s annual $11 million operating costs.
