News Releases
Thursday, January 12, 2012 FCPS Superintendent Proposes FY 2013 Budget, Adds Positions to Address Membership Growth Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Jack D. Dale has released the school system's FY 2013 Proposed Budget of $2.4 billion, an increase of 9 percent, or $202.3 million, from the FY 2012 Approved Budget.The FY 2013 budget includes 721.3 new positions, most of which are being added to address membership growth--projected to be 181,608 in FY 2013--and student demographic changes.Extended learning time for students and extended time for teachers are included in the budget, as are compensation increases for employees, in alignment with the Fairfax County School Board's budget priorities. We have included a 2 percent market scale adjustment and a step increase for all eligible employees as well as a salary adjustment for custodian positions, which are being reclassified to market level,” states Dale. “It is imperative for FCPS stay competitive in the marketplace in order to continue to attract the best employees to support student success. “We continue to dedicate the majority of our budget, 85.9 percent, and the majority of our positions, 94.6 percent, directly to instructional programs,” adds Dale. FCPS is projecting an increase of more than 3,900 students for the 2012-13 school year. Since FY 2008, the district’s enrollment has grown by more than 15,000 students. “We are seeing the greatest increases in the numbers of our students with additional needs,” the Superintendent explained. “Since FY 2008, the number of students enrolled in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) has risen 48.3 percent, and the number of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals is up 35.4 percent.” This fall, FCPS will open two new schools: a middle school at the South County site and an elementary school at the Lacey site. The FY 2013 Proposed Budget includes the addition of 26 positions to address large class sizes and 12 positions to support the expansion of the World Languages program in elementary schools. Eight schools will add the Foreign Languages in the Elementary Schools (FLES) program, and two new schools will implement the Foreign Language Immersion program. These schools will be determined in the spring of 2012. Expansion of the program supports the Fairfax County School Board’s Student Achievement Goal 1.2. The budget also includes funds to expand Pathways to the Baccalaureate, part of the College Success program, to four additional schools--Centreville, Chantilly, South County and Westfield High Schools--and to expand the program to 10th and 11th grades at Annandale, Edison, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, South Lakes, and Stuart High Schools and Hayfield Secondary School. The program works to develop college readiness and provide ongoing support to students who enroll in Northern Virginia Community College with the intent of transferring to a four-year Virginia college to earn a bachelor’s degree. Fairfax, Herndon, Marshall, and West Potomac High Schools also offer the College Success program. The FY 2013 Proposed Budget includes an increase in state funding due to increasing enrollment and the state’s update to the Local Composite Index, however, federal revenue is decreasing due to the loss of one-time Federal Education Jobs funding. FCPS receives the majority of its funding from Fairfax County and this year will request an increase of 8.4 percent over FY 2012. The projected cost per pupil for FY 2013 will be $13,654, an increase of 6.5 percent over the FY 2012. As determined by the Washington Area Boards of Education (WABE), FCPS ranks fifth among 10 area school systems in cost per pupil and has the lowest percentage of leadership team and management positions in relation to total positions of all Washington area school systems for FY 2012. The Fairfax County School Board will hold public hearings on the FY 2013 budget on January 30 and 31 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 13, at http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/meetings/requestspeak.shtml. For complete information on the FCPS FY 2013 budget, including the budget calendar, visit http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/index.shtml ###
Note: For more information, contact Kristen Michael at 571-423-3600 or kkmichael@fcps.edu
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