School Board Invites Question on $2 Billion Budget

The Fairfax County School Board is holding a public forum Saturday to discuss details of its proposed $2.2 billion budget that includes a $50 million pay raise for teachers.

The meeting is from 9 a.m. to noon at  Falls Church High School, 7521 Jaguar Trail. Board members and staff will explain the budget that is funded largely from county revenues. The school board voted on the  budget Feb. 3.

Now county supervisors are mulling over whether they can afford to pay an extra $50 million to teachers can receive a pay raise.

County Executive Anthony H. Griffin Tuesday unveiled the county's proposed 2012 budget of $6 billion.  That proposal included no pay raises for county employees and only a $2 million increase for the schools. County employee salaries have been frozen for two years. 

“Our school budget affects every family with school-aged children and every taxpayer whose taxes contribute to our revenue,” says Kathy Smith, Fairfax County School Board chair. “It’s important that we give Fairfax County residents the chance to become better informed about the advertised budget, understand the fiscal challenges we face as a school system, and have their questions answered.”

Half  of the county's budget goes to pay for the county's 196 elementary, middle, senior and alternative schools. In addition 75 percent of the schools budget comes from the county. Most Virginia schools sytem's receive only half of their funding from their county, according to the schools website.

Highlights of the proposed budget:

* The schools budget would have been flat this year, without the proposed teacher pay raise. The $50 million increase is primarily for the pay raise.

* The proposed $2.2 billion budget would educate  a projected enrollment of nearly 180,000 students, an increase of more than 2,000.

* The schools are seeing more children who qualify for food stamps. The numbers are now 25 percent up from 20 percent.

* Fairfax is the 11th largest school district in the U.S.

 There will be ample opportunity for questions and answers in every session. Citizens who are planning to attend are asked to sign up in advance at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fy2012budgetforum or call 571-423-1075. 

The FY 2012 advertised budget was adopted by the School Board on February 3. For more details about the forum and the FY 2012 budget, please visit http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2012.htm