Fairfax Board Okays New Budget for Schools
February 5, 2010
The Fairfax County School Board approved a spending plan late Thursday night that would increase its funding request from cash-strapped county officials by $24 million beyond Superintendent Jack D. Dale’s request.
School Board Chairman Kathy L. Smith (Sully) said Dale’s proposed spending plan cut into core academic services.
"Our responsibility is to provide an effective school system," Smith said. "We know what it takes for us to be successful."
Dale’s $2.3 billion budget, unveiled early last month, proposed to cut 600 positions, raise class sizes by an average of one student, pare down summer school offerings, eliminate freshman sports and an elementary foreign-language program, and close Pimmit Alternative High School. It would also charge new fees for athletics and for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.
Dale requested $58 million in additional county funding to stave off deeper cuts, including popular programs such as elementary band and string-instrument instruction and foreign-language immersi on.
The School Board’s proposal includes an $82 million increase in county funds. The extra request would restore $17 million to keep class sizes the same and direct more resources to poorly performing schools.
The plan would also remove proposed cuts to assistant principal positions, instructional assistants and coaches, foreign-language classes in elementary school, indoor track and freshman sports. In addition, it includes about $1 million in new cuts, mostly to central office staff.
The board’s vote follows a week of public hearings that brought out more than 300 parents, students and employees who advocated passionately for maintaining their favorite programs and the school system’s top-caliber reputation.
Board members recognized that their requests could go unfulfilled, given the county’s budget constraints.
"Don’t send me an e-mail to say I saved your program, because I may not have saved anything tonight," said board member Brad Center (Lee).
The board is urging parents to lobby the General Assembly to readjust a state funding formula that would bring $60 million in state aid to Fairfax schools.
The School Board’s request will be sent to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which sets the tax rate and decides how much money the schools receive. County tax revenue provides three-quarters of the budget for the 173,500-student school system.
Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said it would be "extremely difficult" to provide such an increase.
Such a boost would probably require higher taxes, which many supervisors are unlikely to support, or more cuts to services such as public safety, libraries and human services.
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"Is that fair?" she asked.