Employee Pay Emphasized In Proposed Fairfax County Schools Budget

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand announced the proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2020. Allocations to the school district represent more than half of the county's annual budget.

The proposed $3.2 billion budget is a $172.2 million increase over the current fiscal year's budget. Major changes include raises for employees and a funding increase for special education.

Eligible employees would get a step increase with $50.1 million in proposed funding. An additional $15.4 million would provide more salary scale enhancements, and $25.3 million would allow a 1 percent market scale adjustment. The budget allocates $2.7 million for the second of three years to bring the salaries of instructional assistants and public health training assistants to 50 percent of teacher salaries in the salary scale for teachers with a bachelor’s degree.

"The proposed FY 21 budget continues to prioritize market competitive compensation for our teachers and staff," said Brabrand in a statement. "My goal is to have FCPS leading the way in teacher compensation in our region."

The budget also accounts for $28.8 million for enrollment and student demographic adjustments, $13.3 million for projected health insurance increases, and $15.6 million for employer contribution rate increases for the Virginia Retirement System.

The $601.6 million proposed for special education services is a 7.5 percent increase over the current budget. The money would go toward teachers, assistants and attendants, as well as more resource-intensive services. An additional $3.5 million would allow for special education chair positions at elementary schools with significant numbers of special education students.

Other major funding allocations would provide $4 million to expand FCPSOn's laptop initiative to middle schools, $1.5 million for dropout prevention and $1.4 million for additional school counselors.

The Fairfax County School Board will adopt the advertised budget on Feb. 6, and the county's advertised budget will be presented on Feb. 25. The Board of Supervisors will vote to adopt the budget on May 5, and the School Board will adopt the approved budget on May 21.

Fairfax County Public Schools is Virginia's largest school district, serving more than 189,000 students. You can find more about the budget process here and sign up to speak at a School Board hearing here.