Falls Church School Board Approves 7.1% Increase In FY'23 Budget

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The Falls Church City School Board on Tuesday approved a $57.6 million operating budget for fiscal year 2023, a budget that provides wage increases for city school employees and additional support for students.

The adopted budget represents a 7.1-percent increase from fiscal year 2022 funding. The budget includes a transfer of $57 million from the City of Falls Church to Falls Church City Public Schools, a $2.8 million increase from fiscal year 2022.

Falls Church City School Board Chair Laura Downs noted that this is the fourth year in a row that the Falls Church City Council approved the school board's requested budget amount.

“We value our partnership with the City Council and look forward to continuing our revenue sharing agreement in the years to come as it provides funding to compensate our talented teachers and staff and enables us to maintain competitive salaries to attract new teachers,” Downs said.

The schools budget includes a step increase in salary for eligible employees, a recovery step increase in salary for employees who were eligible but did not receive one during fiscal year 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a 3-percent cost of living adjustment for all school employees.

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Other approved expenditures in the FY 2023 budget include a $3,000 per year stipend for National Board-certified teachers and a one-time $1,000 bonus for staff who are at the end of their salary bracket.

The budget also includes funding for career and technical education, math, and science teachers, a school nurse, a psychologist, and a secondary campus parent liaison.

The $15 per hour minimum wage was also included in the approved budget.

“We must do everything we can to support teachers, staff, and students by addressing the impact of the last two years on teacher recruitment, retention, and social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs,” Falls Church City Public Schools Superintendent Peter Noonan said in a statement.

The share of projected health insurance premiums for school employees covered by city schools is expected to increase by 10 percent under the approved budget.

The budget also will cover permanent substitute teachers for each school in the city, plus playground supervision to relieve teachers.

Find more information about the budget on the FCCPS website.