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ResourcesEspecially ForCurator: Mary Shaw |
News Releases
Thursday, January 07, 2010 FCPS Superintendent Proposes FY 2011 Budget, Cuts Include FLES, Freshman Sports, 594 Positions Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Jack D. Dale has released the school system’s FY 2011 Proposed Budget of $2.3 billion, which includes $104.8 million in cuts and cost avoidances, $3.4 million in new and increased fees, and a projected enrollment growth of 1,760 students. The proposed budget includes a class size increase of one student, and the elimination of the Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) program, general education summer school, all high school freshman sports, and 594 positions, including 81 in central office support for schools. The proposed budget also includes no salary increases for employees for a second consecutive year.“For the third straight year, I have submitted a budget that includes major cuts due to dismal local and state economic conditions,” said Dale. “These cuts will have a long-term and far-reaching impact on maintaining our high student achievement and excellence for which FCPS is widely known and respected. Student achievement remains our main focus, and while we have directed our diminishing resources to support students and staff members working directly with our students, there is no doubt that many programs which parents and students have come to expect will be gone.” Dale has proposed new fees for athletic participation ($100 per student per Virginia High School League sport); fees of $75 per test for students taking Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) tests and the actual cost of the PSAT test; an increase in community use building revenue of 20 percent; and an increase of 30 percent in monopole revenue. In addition to eliminating all freshman sports, two additional sports—winter cheerleading and indoor track—will be eliminated along with the drill team coaching supplement, and swim and dive team practices will be reduced by 50 percent. These moves will result in the elimination of approximately 300 coaching supplements. Operating fund support for behind-the-wheel driver’s education, the elementary focus program, and the extended learning program will be eliminated. Pimmit Hills Alternative High School will be closed, and its students sent to one of the other two FCPS alternative high schools or another FCPS program. Support departments will again undergo significant budget reductions, averaging 20 percent over the past three years. “To prevent more damaging cuts, I am requesting a county transfer increase of $57.8 million to preserve full-day kindergarten, elementary band and strings, elementary foreign language immersion, and to avoid further increases in class sizes for general and advanced academic education, including Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST). “FCPS engaged its employees, parents, and members of the community in dialogues this fall to determine priorities and to get suggestions as to how to approach this year’s budget challenges,” explained Dale. “We received thousands of suggestions and comments, and have incorporated this feedback into our decisions. What we clearly and consistently heard was that FCPS needs to maintain high student achievement and high caliber teachers for our long-term success.” The Fairfax County School Board will hold public hearings on the FY 2011 budget on January 25 and 26 at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County; the speakers list for those public hearings opens on Friday, January 8 at http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/requestspeak.htm. For complete information on the FCPS FY 2011 budget, including the budget calendar, visit http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2011.htm. ###
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