Another Surplus Budget Year for Fairfax County Public Schools

October 2014

FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS REALIZE $38 MILLION
IN LEFTOVER FUNDS

Lower than anticipated costs have left unspent funds in the $2.5 billion school budget this year alone.  The FCPS board has been criticized in the past for politicking. More money than needed is requested each year from the county government, who is struggling to balance the county budget, while keeping so many important programs alive, in addition to the school system.   The school system will be permitted to keep these many millions along with those accumulated over the previous years, establishing a pattern of fiscal over-grabbing from the county budget.  Fairfax County transferred 52.4% of their annual revenue to the Schools in 2014, a significant investment by any standard. 

$15 million of this overage is slated for synthetic turf fields, new buses, facilities maintenance projects, and foreign language curriculum development.  $7.6 million will be used to fund full-day Mondays for elementary schools, and the remaining $23 million will go into the school system’s slush fund. 

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors increased the 2015 school system’s budget by $51.5 million over 2014 for a total budget of $2.5 billion.  Last year’s school surplus had been $55 million.

VIRGINIA RECEIVES $360K to defray cost of advanced placement exams for low-income students.

The U.S. Department of Education is awarding $28.4 million in grants to 40 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands.  The funds are intended to pay, or at least defray, student test fees for Advanced Placement Tests and International Baccalaureate exams.   This grant will reduce the cost of exams to the Fairfax County School System, who has previously picked up the $18 fee incurred by low-income students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

For the full story and more about Annandale, see the ENDEAVOR News Magazine.....

 

January 2015

MORE GOOD NEWS FOR THE SCHOOLS

The Fairfax County Public Schools System  was awarded a $760,000 Grant from DoDEA Educational Partnership: FCPS was eligible for this grant because the district serves military-connected students from the Ft. Belvoir Military installation.   The new initiative will help to close the achievement gap between general education students and special education students in mathematics by using a hands-on, interactive math program during an after-school program and embedded as an intervention during the school day.  This will ensure that all students will have the tools necessary to achieve more rigorous math goals centered on problem solving, communication, connections, and representations, resulting in a deeper understanding of math content and increased Virginia Standards of Learning scores for special education students in grades 3-6.   

 For the full story and more about Annandale, see the ENDEAVOR News Magazine.....