Superintendent Brabrand Presents FCPS Budget For FY 2022

Press release from Fairfax County Public Schools:

January 07, 2021

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand presented a $3.1 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Proposed Budget to the Fairfax County School Board at its business meeting on January 7. Overall, the FY 2022 Proposed Budget represents an increase of $0.4 million, or 0.01 percent, over the FY 2021 Approved Budget.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted FCPS in numerous ways,” said Brabrand. “As a result, this budget focuses on our most pressing needs. I have designed the budget to prioritize the instructional and social-emotional needs of our students so they can continue to learn and grow despite the ongoing challenges of this pandemic.”

The FY 2022 Proposed Budget includes funds to continue supporting students’ technology and instructional needs by enhancing digital instructional and web conferencing tools, cybersecurity protection, and the continuation of the lease obligation for FCPSOn.

“We are asking for an additional $42.7 million, or 2.0 percent, in the County transfer to continue offering expanded preschool special education classes; address retirement rate increases and rising health care costs; expand and support our response to meet student needs arising from the pandemic; and offset decreasing revenue from state, federal, and other sources,” he added.

To begin to meet the prescribed changes to the Standards of Quality (SOQ) by the Virginia Board of Education, the budget includes $4.9 million and 50 positions to fund staffing adjustments at the elementary level for the English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) program. In response to the update to the Code of Virginia that authorizes collective bargaining for public employees, the budget includes $0.5 million and three positions for a collective bargaining team to support the new requirements and activities.

While the FY 2022 budget does not contain compensation increases for most employees, the proposed budget does include $3.0 million for the third and final year of the three-year implementation plan to bring salaries of instructional assistants and public health training assistants to 50 percent of the bachelor's degree teacher salary scale.

“Now more than ever, collaboration with our county funding partners is vital,” said Brabrand. “Working with the County Executive and the Board of Supervisors, we have been able to create a practical budget that will address our most pressing needs for FY 2022. We have prioritized the needs of students above all as we navigate the changing educational landscape during this pandemic.”

The presentation of the FY 2022 Proposed Budget is the starting point of the budget process, which ends in May with the School Board’s adoption of the Approved Budget.

The Fairfax County School Board will hold a work session on Tuesday, January 12, a public hearing on the FY 2022 budget on Tuesday, January 26 and January 27, if needed, and an additional budget work session on Wednesday, January 27.

The School Board will adopt its Advertised Budget on February 18 and present it to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 13. Additional budget work sessions and public hearings will occur through May. The FCPS FY 2022 begins July 1, 2021.

Information about speaking at a budget public hearing and a list of relevant budget dates, along with updates and budget news, is available online.

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Note: For more information, contact the FCPS Office of Budget Services at 571-423-3600

This press release was produced by the Fairfax County Public Schools.The views expressed here are the author’s own.