WASHINGTON — Fairfax County’s school system will be holding community meetings this week to explain why it might need to make dramatic budget cuts that could eliminate programs such as high school sports and full-day kindergarten.
“There’s a lot of them that are on the list that are difficult for us to even contemplate,” Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza tells WTOP. “But, we’re putting them out there and letting the community have a say.”
The school system’s expected budget shortfall for the 2016-17 school year is based on projected costs for enrollment growth, state mandated retirement increases, health insurance costs and employee raises.
Garza will present her proposed budget to the school board Jan. 7, 2016 after considering proposed cuts submitted by a task force examining all potential options. Then the school board in February will submit the budget to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which determines funding levels for the schools.
“We’ve been imploring them for additional revenue, so we’ll see what they do,” Garza says. “They’ve told us a 3 percent increase to the transfer (of money to the school system from county funds) so, we’re representing that in our budget. It’s still sorely inadequate.”
The task force’s draft of potential reductions includes the following suggestions:
- Increase class sizes
- Reduce the number of assistant principals, psychologists and social workers
- Eliminate after-school programs in middle school
- Stop funding extracurricular activities such as band, drama, yearbook, debate and student councils
- Quit funding preschool
- Reverse the move toward later high school start times
- Either eliminate high school sports and associated staff or start charging athletic fees
At the community meetings school officials will give an overview of the budget and will introduce a new interactive tool residents can use to make suggested cuts. The budget proposal tool lets users create a list of cuts and totals the estimated cost savings as items are added to the list.
Garza says parents and residents will find that trimming enough to save $50 million to $75 million is a herculean task given other recent budget cuts.
“We’ve cut, since 2008, almost a half a billion dollars out of our operating costs,” Garza says.
The meetings will be held:
- 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9 at South Lakes High School, 11400 South Lakes Drive, Reston
- 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Sept. 12 at Mount Vernon High School, 8515 Old Mount Vernon Road, Alexandria
